How to Deal With Annoying People

As I get older, I have less tolerance for some things and for certain behaviors. Let this serve as a guide as to how to deal with annoying people. 

Cutsies? Really?

You're in line at the drug store. You're staring at the gum and Chap Stick because that's what you do when you're in line. When suddenly the line moves and you look and notice someone different is in front of you and they're clearly not with the person who was in front of you when you originally got in there. Oh, they're there, but someone has pulled cutsies. What do you do? Well, the first suggestion would be to just ignore it, but if you're like me and think that cutsies is for grade school, I say squash them back, but be nice. First, seek out backup so if you do tap them on the shoulder to say something, you have someone else who saw what they did. When you do say something, say "Excuse me, I'm in line and you cut in front of me. You should go to the back of the line and wait." The offending person will probably look around and if you have someone else nodding, it's going to make for a stronger case and they'll probably move. Just don't get angry and make huffing noises. That's just going to make it worse.

We Are Family

Even if they are overbearing, they're still your family. What you need to do here is set boundaries and quickly. Draw the line in the sand so they know what's off limits before it comes to a head. I was once engaged to a gentleman whose mother had no idea of where her place was in the relationship. It was very crowded having to date him and her at the same time because he wouldn't make a move without her. I just learned that I needed to pick my battles. She would criticize me for my job, criticize me for my weight, but when I was trying to plan the wedding and she started attacking certain other things and threatening me, I drew the line and had to say something. If it's a family member you only see occasionally or for short periods of time, it's OK to let some of the smaller stuff slide, but if it's someone you see all the time or someone you live with, you should speak up.

Attendance Counts

Do you have a friend, subordinate or family member who can never seem to be on time? Not only is it annoying, it's disrespectful. If it's a onetime thing, it's OK to wait, but if it happens time and time again, there are two things you can do here. The first is tell them that whatever you're doing, tell them it starts or your leaving 20 minutes before you actually want to leave or before you're actually supposed to meet. Make sure the rest of the group is all on the same page so they don't get pissed. The other thing is to just leave without them. If you're leaving for something and it's a habit that they're late all the time, tell them you're leaving at 6:30 with or without them. If it's 6:35 and they're still not there, leave. They've been told.

Turn That Infernal Racket Down!

Noisy neighbors keeping you up? Chances are they don't know they're being loud, so just knock and politely make them aware. If it's 11pm and they wake you out of a dead sleep with their stereo, they know they're being loud. Bang on the wall. If it continues, bang on their door. I have lived in an apartment for a majority of my adult life. There are just some people who have no sense of self awareness or the fact that they aren't the only people on Earth, so you need to make your presence known. I was woken up out of a dead sleep after midnight and when that happens, life sucks for everyone in my vicinity. Especially the offending party. So, I got up and pounded on the door. They used some not so nice words to let me know they wanted me to go home, so I pounded again. This time they opened the door and there I stood in my Property of the County Sheriff's Department t-shirt and Sponge Bobs. They took one look at my shirt, apologized, and turned the stereo down. If asking them to turn it down doesn't work, make the property manager aware, but only if you have to. Everyone has to live there. You don't have to get used to the noise, but they probably know what kind of car you drive, so think twice before you get nasty with them.