Negative Tenacity
A very important lesson that I'm proud to say it didn't take me long to learn is when to quit. When to quit on a lover, when to quit on a job, when to quit beating your head against a brick wall. There is a fine line between gritting your teeth and pushing through the pain to something better, and just causing yourself pain. Or making the situation even worse.
One thing I've never quite been able to understand is some people's capacity for negative tenacity. Let. It. Go. Already.
An example from the world in which I work: If one of the richest men in town puts together a little cohort of nouveau riche buddies and decides to come play at your little fundraiser for a while, you do NOT make him go the extra mile at the end. Especially if the man just topped of the best earnings you've ever made at said fundraiser with a hundred dollar bill just for the hell of it. Well, maybe I charmed him--I do try, you know. But they've been sweating outside, so don't you DARE go unroll that hose, hook everything back up, and make him wash one more car for a measly five or ten bucks in the hot, hot sun. And in the process kill all the goodwill we just set up with the rich people.
An example from my life: Mom, STOP acting like Sister is going to blab your secret facelift to the world. Every time you remind her to not tell anyone you make her think that YOU think she's going to tell everyone. Let. It. Go. Oh, and Sister, if you're checking, Mom wants me to tell you to be sure not to tell anybody, as she doesn't think it's any of their business. ::eyeroll::
Mom's capacity to persistantly think the worst would happen to me and Sister pretty much drove us away from her, if only to not have to listen to her run her mouth. Godless, I've gotten rid of men for less than running their mouths too much.
posted by contemplator at Wednesday, July 26, 2006
6 Comments:
One spends $6000 US dollars, and if she thinks no one noticed, she's foolish. They're just tactful enough not to point it out.
negative tenacity. very good, i actually have not heard those two words combined this way. i like it. there is sure a lot of that out there. doesn't it seem like some people just need that in their life? it's almost like they go out looking for something to hold onto.
negative tenacity. an anchor in more ways than one. hmmm.
sandra: i like it when you hmmm. :) it means those beautiful wheels are turning in your head!
know exactly how you feel, DV. My father seems like a king of paranoia short of being crazy. He always thinks something bad is going to happen to us, but he always describes them as 'concerns'. To say his fears are merely concerns is to say that Mt. McKinley is merely a hill. He fears heavy duty labor, climbing on roofs, powertools, DIY, or new ways of doing things. He would rather pay thousands of dollars for plumbers, carpenters and electricians than to fix something himself. My dad is also pretty disorganized, and is extremely resistent and even hostile to my mom when she tries to get him to sort through his stuff. To this day, he still has papers from work from 30 years ago, even on court cases that he won.
He has good intentions, but they come out totally wrong, much like a bright white silk cloth that becomes caked in mud. I think because of his fears, he is quite controlling, in an desperate effort to prevent anything bad from happening.
p.s.: Sorry I have not contacted you too much. I have had my first full week at a job, around 9 hours each day, and its tiring.
mad dog: i figured you were busy, no worries. add a heaping dose of armageddon fear/crazy fundy, and you'll have my mom!
I don't know if my father could be classified as fundy or not, but he is a missouri synod lutheran who goes to church almost weekly, and also serves as a communion assistant. He goes to this old on in decrepit urban Bridgeport, Ct. that is mostly senior citzens. There is a missouri synod lutheran church closer to his house, in a nice suburban location, but he refuses to go to it because he considers it too soft and wishy washy. The suburban church is also newer, and my father went to the older church since he was a kid. My father is also a gideon, an organization that does not allow women to be distributors of bibles. I don't see any justification for this in the bible (he uses the St. Paul doctrine, which I think is a featherweight argument in this case), but he doesn't care.
Post a Comment
<< Home