No Psychodramas!

If there is one thing that drives me absolutely nuts, it's when people inflict their own personal psychodramas on me, especially at work. I've always felt that it was the best policy to keep your personal problems and/or bad moods resulting from them out of the office, but it seems that some people see fit to act snippy and unprofessional whenever it suits them to do so. I have no time for this sort of behavior. I have enough problems of my own without someone acting stupid because they are having a bad day or some other such thing. Life is too short to be getting your knickers in a twist over some minor thing or some perception that rules aren't being followed strictly enough or some other such inane thing. I know some people who feel that rules are inviolate, that there's no bending, no breaking, no give or take whatsoever, and heaven help anyone who does. I prefer to be a bit more lenient in that department. I refuse to be someone who thinks that rules cannot be bent even the slightest bit. It makes for far too much stress, and frankly, I don't understand these people who feel that the rules must be followed, no ands, ifs or buts about it because it says right there in black and white. I happen to know someone like this who refuses to bend even the slightest little bit, who is such a stickler for rules that they make everyone plain crazy. Sometimes you just have to give people the benefit of the doubt and cut people a little slack from time to time. Some folks circumstances require that you do a little give and take and go easier on them, but this person I know refuses to do that and holds everyone to the same "rules is rules" standard and won't cut even the slightest slack for anyone, period.

I've noticed that the people who tend to be the most rule conscious and who tend to be the least flexible when it comes to that sort of thing are typically people who are new or relatively new at their jobs. Maybe they fear losing their job or maybe they come from a workplace where rules were more emphasized or something, but it drives me nuts when people are so crashingly inflexible as to cause conflict with people around them. I intensely dislike any sort of conflict, psychodrama or what-have-you, but the last place I need it is in the workplace, where being so hide bound where rules are concerned that you drive everyone crazy is not exactly the best way to try to get along. I've noticed that everyone's got their personality quirks, and that's OK, so long as it's tolerable and doesn't cause undue conflict to where it makes people crazy. I've worked with all kinds of people over the years, some good, some I was grateful to see go, but to have one or more people who have become so stick-in-the-mud about "rules is rules and they are graven in stone" that it makes for discomfort in the workplace is enough to make me count the days until my retirement even more so than usual. I don't know if these individuals will ever ease up in their attitudes or whether they will remain as hide bound, inflexible and rule oriented as ever. I just can't deal with people who act like they are the enforcers of rules when that is not their jobs to do so. Some folks ought to just mind their place and stop acting so foolish at times. No one needs someone around who's going to act like a veritable drill sergeant. If I wanted that, I would have joined the military years ago.