Wisest Is He Who Knows He Does Not Know

After all the bragging I've done about workplace politics in previous posts, I must make a confession here. There is one game that has troubled me all of my life, and still troubles me to this day. My mother and my wife both use it on me, and like a sucker I fall for it every single time. It's like a preprogrammed button with me. I am referring, of course, to the "poor suffering martyr" game.

Basically it goes like this: specific persons who are expert at this game figure out that I'm a hot head. Then they do little things to bug the ever living @#$% outta me, and n0 matter how long I try to be quiet and patient, they just keep it up until I blow my stack. Then, THEN is where the zinger comes. They whine, moan about, and shed tears about how picked upon they are, and they use my outburst as proof that I'm a terribly evil axe-murder-maniac-destined-for-the-gas-chamber type monster. They go out of their way to use and exaggerate my own faulty behavior to draw as much sympathy as they can for themselves.

As I point my finger at these people, I realize that five more of my own fingers are pointing back at me. If the game is to be broken, I am the only person who can take responsibility for my own behavior. I must break the response cycle. And there's the rub. No matter how hard I try, I still have yet to succeed at it. These people burrow under my shell, push my buttons, and have me acting like an idiot lightning fast, faster than I can consciously realize what's happening and try to stop my own behavior.

The reason I mention this is that in the previous few days I have seen members of the Soft Lines Department at my store use this game with the skillful grace of Judo masters. They used it on me, then I watched them use it on two other people besides me. For this reason I have nicknamed them the "poor way-faring souls of grief department" because of how well they play this game.

At the very least, I can say that now I know who to steer clear of. The uber-crazy drama-queens of the department reveal themselves to me every time they play this game. They may be able to lay low and camouflage themselves amongst the crowd for awhile, but once I see someone play this game on another employee, I know instantly who I need to watch out for. I guess that's about the only way I can beat the game.