The only problem with all the pressure to add to my list of things that annoy me is that not that many things really annoy me.
You’ll notice, fr’instance, that there are no actual people on my list. There’s bad behaviors. “People who…” can be anyone. Could be you. But other than the occasional bad or stupid behavior, people don’t annoy me.
They sure used to, back when I was a knee-jerk right-wing idiot. I was making the same mistake most political nutjobs do—seeing people as demographics instead of as individuals. Consider how stupid it is to hate liberals when my Lord is a liberal.
Seriously. He loves everyone, even (and especially) freaks. He gives freely to all, without merit or expecting any sort of payment, and won’t cut off benefits just because they slack off. He forgives everyone of every single last nasty sin they can possibly think up. He provides free health care. He’s a foster parent to billions whose own parents have screwed up royally. I could go on, but you see my point.
Loving everyone like God loves them isn’t easy, but it takes care of most of the things that drive other people to kill or maim. It makes all these little annoyances things I can laugh at instead of things that fester. That’s why I didn’t title them “Things that Piss Me Off.”
…Okay, hypocrisy pisses me off. But that’s about it.