or Why are Immature Adults so Annoying?

I can’t stop using this phrase in my head—Grown Up Babies. Do you know some? The adults who behave as if they are still on an elementary school playground? The ones who perfected manipulation in Middle School and still practice?

The Snark-About: You have two friends. They don’t like each other. The Snark-About is the one who tries to win you over to their point of view about this other friend. Failing that, they become best buddies with the other friend and try to cut you out. Loyalty is its own reward, but these types don’t deserve you—ditch them.

The Big But: Starts every sentence about mutual acquaintances with “I really like so-and-so but..” and proceeds to trash them badly. Don’t try to stick up for the person being trashed, it will only spark another round of “Oh no I really LIKE them.”  You can acknowledge your friends’ faults without trashing them.  Ditch this person before they “really LIKE” you.

The Complaint Bonder: Everyone goes through bad times, and most of us feel better after we’ve had a chance to vent with a trusted friend. Complaint-bonders have taken complaint-venting into an art form and turned it into a reason to bond with their unfortunate listener. Run away from Complaint-bonders as quickly as you can and beware… chances are, you will become the next complaint. Someone somewhere will respond with “I feel your pain, let’s talk.”

The Two-Faced Soother: “Everyone LOVED your presentation. They ALL know how great you are.” Excuse me while I take this call to take credit for your idea, oops I mean tell them there’s no way you came up with that on your own.  The hardest part of avoiding a Two-Faced Soother is that they are very difficult to spot. Sometimes you can root them out by their sycophants – do the people around them seem to share a private joke? Most often, they get confused with their cousins, the…

Two-Faced Misinformer: Although they are very similar in character to the Two-Faced Soother, for a mature person the Two-Faced Misinformer is infinitely more dangerous. These are the folk who have scattered such a network of misinformation that their main anxiety is to make sure none of the players ever compare notes. Reality is what they say it is—don’t confuse them with facts!

Of course these are just a few of the Grown Up babies one meets every day. Feel free to email me the ones you’ve met along the way. Unlike the “King-of-the-Hill”, I won’t protest that I invented the concept.  Nor will I allow any “Mine,Mine,All Mine-ers” to try to step on you for invading their “turf.”

One, Two, Three...roll your eyes. :)