So I'm reading the NY Times article on Difficult People and the booming consulting business around them. And they rattle off some types:
Several authors think it is useful to characterize infuriating people into types and prescribe ways to deal with them, as Robert M. Bramson did in 1981 in “Coping With Difficult People,” one of the first popular books on the topic. Its overarching lesson is to find a way to communicate with these people because they are not going away. Dr. Bramson lists seven difficult behavior types: Hostile-Aggressives, Complainers, Silent and Unresponsives, Super-Agreeables, Know-It-All Experts, Negativists and Indecisives.
I know I have Negativist and Know-It-All tendencies and try to be conscious about them. I didn't realize "Super-Agreeable" was a difficult type, but now that I think about it, my weasley ex-boss was in that category.
I'm taking a deep breath and giving myself a mental shake to get off the semantics thing.
(If an explanation helps at all, chatty!co-worker is the most pedantic, literal-minded human being I have ever encountered, and he deliberately obfuscates because of semantics. Daily. In fact, every night when we leave work, he says "See you tomorrow...maybe." When someone asked him why the "maybe" he said "You can't know we'll both be here tomorrow." He also says things like "*Try to* have a good evening," rather than "Have a good evening," because the latter is apparently laden with expectations and pressure.
He might be trying to be funny, but after 5 years, every day -- it's not funny. If someone asks "Do you know what time it is?" he replies, without fail, "Yes."
So semantics -- while they are significant in many cases -- get on my last nerve. And that is why I'm in serious need of a bitch-slapping this morning. Er, afternoon.)
Again, sorry. Go Team Vitamins! Or -- Go Team Adequate Dietary Intake!
How 'bout those Bears? How 'bout that weather, huh? Uh....look! Cats!
Uh....look! Cats!
Awww, man. Let's get back to pitchers and catchers report.
I was almost impressed, but then he got smug and I had to snub him.
Bwah.
Man, in burning off old tapes, I found the Kasparaitis shot of Lindros resulting in one of his many, many concussions. It is horrifying and scary. He's so still for so long, and they cart him off the ice, all immobilized.
They've been trying to clean up that part of the game, making it safer. But there's still a lot of head into the boards trash. The SO fears it won't stop until someone dies.
Uh....look! Cats!
Awww, man. Let's get back to pitchers and catchers report.
Absolutely! Go pitchers and catchers!
Absolutely! Go pitchers and catchers!
I bet a lot of pitchers and catchers have cats.
If someone asks "Do you know what time it is?" he replies, without fail, "Yes."
Oh, my god. Grounds for homicide.
Cute Overload crashed Firefox for me.
Also, Steph, I think your co-worker is an ass.
