Ranty McRanterson

For those of you hoping for a cheery post about my daughter's cuteness or something similar, you may not get what you're looking for here. But if you're looking for a good old fashioned I'm-fed-up-and-want-to-complain rant, then tune in Tokyo, because this girl's about to go off.

I'm torn. I can't seem to find a happy medium. Here are the things I hate:

1/ I hate the tendency of people these days to feel no obligation to fulfill promises and be reliable, to show an utter lack of consideration and common decency, and to just be generally and unabashedly selfish. It drives me absolutely up the wall when someone says "Sorry!", when they have the opportunity to fix whatever it is that they are "Sorry!" for, but choose not to because, quite frankly, they suck.

How do I get to the point where that doesn't bother me? Every time I am flummoxed by someone's crappy behaviour, I try to tell myself to lower my standards. I can't tell you how many times I've said it. If I just don't expect anything from anyone, I can't be disappointed. It sounds good on paper, but in reality it just leads to the other thing I hate...

2/ I HATE it when people absolve themselves and others of responsibility, and refuse to hold themselves accountable to anything. I'm so tired of hearing people blame everyone and everything except themselves. I want to take the phrase "doesn't know any better" and wring someone's neck with it. If you're over the age of 10, you know better.

So I'm left to either stew in my own frustration, or to do something about it. But here's the thing: people aren't going to change. So I can make a big deal and rant and rave and force them to say "Sorry!" when that won't change a thing, or I can let people be who they're going to be and accept them. It's that accepting part that I'm having trouble with. I'm not good at accepting that people are going to treat me, or anyone for that matter, poorly. It's a fact of life, yes. I don't have to like it.

Just to clarify...in case you were wondering...I'm not actually perfect. I've bailed on people, I've scapegoated myself out of taking the blame and I've treated people like crap. But I guarantee that it doesn't happen without a boatload of guilt and remorse. I try not to be that person. Because who wants to be that person? And how have we gotten to that place where so many people out there don't mind being that person?

Also to clarify, my husband is not in the doghouse.

And, in case you're wondering, the count is 18,811, I'm about 3000 words behind and I don't want to talk about it.

xoxoxo