Suffering Fools (But Not Gladly)

I don't have the patience for this.

Look, those of you who have read this blog for a while know me well enough to know that I am generally a pretty forgiving person. I historically have assumed that people just don't know any better or are working on it. And goodness knows I understand the importance of that over there → It's important to take joy in the little things as well as the big; as the pic says, "Folks can care about important social issues AND frivolous distractions simultaneously. Most do, in fact. It keeps us sane." 

It does help keep us sane, and that's good and valid and kind of awesome, honestly.

And then there are the other people. The hypocrites (do as I say, not as I do), the concern trolls (but what about the children?), and those who constantly harp on a single topic that has little-to-nothing to do with reality (like the folks who complain about our state's mask mandate on every. single. post by the governor, even if it's about, say, the death of a Supreme Court Justice). (The folks who just rant to huge groups that can't help about their own problems while not providing solutions or even ideas (especially when they don't say it's a rant or they're just looking for sympathy) aren't my favorites either. If you want to complain, do it to someone who can do something about it. Or state that it's just a complaint. But I digress.)

Example - most of the population of my state is fairly liberal - I live in Seattle-ish. A friend who lives the eastern half of the state said that one of his coworkers (they're much more conservative as a group on that side of the state) was complaining about the "liberal agenda" the schools are pushing...

His example?

His son had an assignment to write an essay about how the students could give grace to other people.

Now, I have issues with this term in public schools - giving grace - because to me it has religious overtones. But a lot of people understand it where they might not grok terms like "empathy" or "compassion." 

Apparently not this person though.

So I was ranting about this today to my therapist (because it's her job to listen to my rants and give me ideas on dealing with them). And she suggested I set a timer.

Huh. Whut?

"Set a timer. When you find yourself engaging in these ah... discussions... set a timer, after which you will not engage anymore."

Oh. Why.

"Give yourself some grace. You don't have to suffer fools gladly."

More was said, but it was along the same lines. Cut yourself some slack, give yourself some grace. Whether it's negativity or toxic positivity or just all the 2020 out there, there is only so much I can do. So I do it. And then I stop. Take a break. Chill.

I can do that.