Team Wet Dog

negativity

I was reminded tonight of just how ugly negativity is. To quote Steve Martin in LA Story, "I don't think you realize how unattractive hate is."

Now, the weird thing is that I was feeling just as negative as the guy making all the noise. See, I have this class once a week where the "teacher" doesn't teach so much as read from a book: for four hours.

It frustrates me to no end that he's not teaching. I can sit at home and read this myself, and here I am paying to have it read to me.

So you can see where the frustration, irritation and negativity comes from.

But behind me sits this kid. Yeah, I suppose he is a kid to me since he's about 10 years younger than me. And he's making all the comments out loud that I have running in my head. All the things I won't say about this class, and the frustration, he just keeps blurting out.

Ignore for a moment that the guy "teaching" can probably hear him just fine - the kid, in my opinion, is just an immature kid who doesn't care and wants attention. I just find it interesting that here is someone expressing the very things I feel, and I don't like it.

He didn't say anything tonight that I wasn't feeling, and yet everything he said made me uncomfortable and irritable and want to be somewhere far away from him.

It's not feasible, really, to be thinking only positive thoughts all the time. I know this. That's just not how people are, and even if you could be like that it probably wouldn't be the best thing for you. But sometimes it's good to get a reminder like this one, that people are far more attracted to positive thoughts. And that negativity really is an unattractive thing — even when it's your own.

— Robert

(8/25/06) 
(back, next)   

All Images Copyright 2006 -- Robert Walton