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Impatient Zero
Jan. 10th, 2016 02:24 amHistorically, I've known that patience is not one of my virtues. But lately I've had to reconsider that, and realize that it's a statement that requires further qualification.
I have very little patience for situations and groups. I have a lot of patience with individuals.
For example, I am very much known for cursing at traffic, cursing at my computer, getting antsy while waiting in line for anything, and flipping my shit when I spill something and subsequently have to clean it up.
But when it comes to individual people, I can have patience that seems endless. When I was in 2nd grade I worked extensively to help out an intellectually disabled kid get through his work, and didn't know I was doing anything special until a teacher thanked me for it. These days, I accept friends as they are and easily brush past any failings or personality quirks they may have. My patience with the people I work with, some of whom have language barriers and others of whom suffer from general incompetence, is so strong that my boss sent me a photo comment of Saint Nicholas after seeing one of my recent interactions.
What this tells me, generally, is that I need to keep in mind the human element in the things that piss me off. Every car out there on the road is another individual, and while some of them are legitimately bad drivers, the vast majority are just trying to get to their destinations, like me. Situations can often not be helped, but they're almost always the result of human decisions and activity, and they can at least be understood and identified with. Including when I very humanly fail to put the filter in and the coffeemaker spills out all over the kitchen floor.
I have very little patience for situations and groups. I have a lot of patience with individuals.
For example, I am very much known for cursing at traffic, cursing at my computer, getting antsy while waiting in line for anything, and flipping my shit when I spill something and subsequently have to clean it up.
But when it comes to individual people, I can have patience that seems endless. When I was in 2nd grade I worked extensively to help out an intellectually disabled kid get through his work, and didn't know I was doing anything special until a teacher thanked me for it. These days, I accept friends as they are and easily brush past any failings or personality quirks they may have. My patience with the people I work with, some of whom have language barriers and others of whom suffer from general incompetence, is so strong that my boss sent me a photo comment of Saint Nicholas after seeing one of my recent interactions.
What this tells me, generally, is that I need to keep in mind the human element in the things that piss me off. Every car out there on the road is another individual, and while some of them are legitimately bad drivers, the vast majority are just trying to get to their destinations, like me. Situations can often not be helped, but they're almost always the result of human decisions and activity, and they can at least be understood and identified with. Including when I very humanly fail to put the filter in and the coffeemaker spills out all over the kitchen floor.
