Da Way I Iz

Its odd isn't it, the way people can justify their actions.

Perhaps its simply the way things are now, and things really were better in 'the good old days', or perhaps its always been this way, and as we grow older we just begin to tire of certain things.

I speak to many people who think everything is more fucked up now than its ever been. I'd question whether their perception is merely selective and not accurate, and influenced by what they want to see rather than what they really see.

External and internal attributions are common. We take credit for the good things that happen to us, and palm off the bad as things out of our control. Often we refer to 'luck' as well, just to back up our claims. We also make the fundamental attribution error, which is to blame other people for their actions when it was external factors that were more likely to motivate or dictate their behaviour.

Somebody may hate men (they're allowed to) because they've been hurt by one or two in the past. In a world of seven billion people, with just over half of them being men, I'd consider it a trifle unfair to judge every member of a gender on the actions of one or two of them. Yet this seems quite plausible to some.

What's gotten stuck in my craw though, is this notion of "Its just the way I am", and then any excuse that follows it. There's those that expect you to excuse their actions because that's just them.

Well...no. Actually. No I won't.

I used to work with a girl who claimed no-one should talk to her before 10 AM, as she hadn't woken up by then. If you did, it was like she had a license to bite your head off with her piss poor attitude. Her excuse was always the same, she'd say "You know I'm tired and cranky before 10".

Immediately, she'd turned the blame on to me for having the audacity to attempt communication before the sun reaches a certain point in the sky. She could get to bed earlier and give her body the required amount of rest. She could attempt to swallow her fatigue and just deal with a brief exchange of information through gritted teeth, since the workplace contains many examples of doing things you just would rather not do. Instead, she chose to just say its the way she is, and everyone else has to work around her and deal with it.

The arrogance of "Its just the way I am" is lost on many.

You may well be that way, but any reluctance to try and improve that part of yourself others find disagreeable, is simply ignorance and ego on your part. Why bother trying to be a better person, when really the whole world should just learn to accept you and your faults, right? Know me, know my ways? If the rest of seven billion idiots could just realise the way you are, the world would be a better place then?

Its common that those who believe the world to suck are often guilty of this kind of social ineptitude. Which again makes me believe its a perceptual problem rather than any real one grounded in reality.

We do have our own little ways, and they're what make each one of us each one of us. Admitting however, that perhaps everything isn't perfect with us is a step we should all take. If we then wish to attempt change for the better that's admirable. If we don't, perhaps it would be wise to not just expect everyone else to fall in line with our moods, attitudes and beliefs.