As part of the 2016 A-Z Blog Challenge I am writing a guidebook on how to navigate through life according to S.D. Gates. I thought I would write a survival guide for my boys.  They are now 18 and 19 years of age.  I find that I have so many little things that need to be said about how to navigate through life unscathed and as comfortably as possible.  This isn’t earth-shattering stuff, but it might helpful to the boys, if and when they move out on their own.  I am certainly not rushing them, I like having them at home.  But eventually they will want to move on with their lives. I am hoping this will come in handy.

The A-Z Survival Guide to Life

A – Annoying People

There are many different types of annoying people, so many types. Ultimately, the best thing to do is avoid them, but this is almost impossible.  They are everywhere, and unless you plan on being a hermit, living off the grid, in the mountains, you are always going to bump into them.  The best thing to do is to learn to live with them, if you can’t avoid them and make the most of any interaction you might have with them.  I will cover the most prevalent types of annoying people.

The Self-Centered Types – These are the people that think only of themselves. When they are around, they monopolize the conversation and speak entirely on their favorite subject, themselves.  These people do not realize they are doing this for the most part.  It doesn’t matter what you do, they are never going to experience an epiphany and suddenly realize they have dominated the conversations and then ask you how you are doing. To not make yourself look like a completely insincere, unfeeling butthole, your only option is to listen.  Think to yourself this must be an amazingly insecure individual, who lives a lonely life trying to convince themselves and all the people around them that they are significant and nod – a lot – because you will never get a word in edgewise.

The Downers – These are the people that are completely negative about everything, everyone. They are the people that will find fault in even the most wonderful of situations, say… like winning a brand new car.  They will complain about the color, the interior, the new car smell – anything and everything.  These people are never, ever happy about anything.  Everyone around them is stupid, ineffective, their lives are without cheer, everything is grey and boring and dull and endless.  All I can tell you, is stay as far away from these people as you can.  Limit any contact with them.  They will suck the life out of you and drag you down into the quagmire of doom and gloom. If you absolutely have to spend time with a Downer, make sure to counteract their negative auras, with over the top cheer and happiness about everything.  Create a bubble of joy to protect the negative aura exuding from a nearby Downer – it is the only way to survive.

The Angry Person – This is the person that bashes through their lives, cussing and carrying on about everything. This is the person that finds fault in everything – the line is too long, the day is too sunny, the laundry is too soft, the grass is too green and all of that stuff pisses them off.  These people I find the most annoying and most toxic.  They take no responsibility for anything that happens to them in their lives, it is everyone else’s fault and they want someone to pay for it, they want someone to know they are angry.  And if they are ignored they will become more belligerent, louder and angrier.  They will flail out at any inanimate object or innocent bystander in an attempt to draw them into their vortex of ire. Stand clear. If you do have the misfortune of encountering an individual such as this, minimize your interactions with them, do not attempt to pacify them and hope they someday will realize how incredibly ridiculous they are.  Do not become one of these people.  Because I will not really like you very much (I will always love you, but I just won’t like you as a person).  Just saying.

The Instigator – These type of people are generally quite sneaky. They could be a coworker, a girlfriend, a boss.  These people will create environments of tensions, infiltrate little lies and untruths into conversations – just enough to sow a seed of doubt or uncertainty into an established relationship.  They will attempt to pit the people in their lives against one another.  That is where they find their joy. These types of people are very dangerous, because they blend into the crowd, they pretend to be a friend.  But they are not.  They enjoy mayhem and chaos. To avoid being pulled into their web of deceit, learn from experience.  They will invariably be able to get away with their sneaky ways once, but don’t ever allow them a second chance, because once an instigator, always an instigator.  And don’t gossip or talk behind the backs of others, because this is how they usually recruit their victims.

The Credit-Taker – We will talk more about this type of person in the Professional section (if I remember when we get to the “P” part of this challenge).   You will bump into this type sometime in your life, most likely when you get a job, or begin your career.  These are the type of people that will let you do all the work and then totally claim all the work and the brilliant ideas were theirs alone, and they just simply allowed you to assist them.  All I can say about dealing with these types, is tell them nothing, keep to yourself and if you absolutely have to work with them, document, document, document and let them know you are.

There are many other types of annoying individuals, as witnessed when we brainstormed about who annoyed us the most. Here are some of the types:

Young girls that think getting old is a disease (that was mine)

Loud talkers (on their cellphones or in general)

Know-it-alls (seems to be less of them, because things can be verified on Google)

Holier-than thou types.

There are more, but I promised myself I would keep these posts at about 1000 words, so I have to stop for now.