Over the last few days I seem to have encountered more than my fair share of grumpy old women. I started to wonder if it was me and if I was somehow becoming more argumentative but I am normally a very easy going person and I think I have just been unlucky lately.
The first incident occurred over the weekend when I got into a discussion with a woman about cruelty to animals. I was basically saying that I don’t like cruelty to animals and that sometimes I think animals suffer unnecessarily. We were in a group of four couples and one of the women seemed to take this statement like a red flag to a bull…and she was off. It’s one of those moments when you admit to being a vegetarian and then someone starts to have a go about whether you wear leather or not.. as soon as it started I just knew I should not have voiced an opinion with someone like her around. I later found out that her own husband has nicknamed her the “rottweiler”. Says it all I guess. Some people just cannot seem to cope with people having their own opinion and take it upon themselves to convert everyone around them to their way of thinking – a bit like a fanatical preacher who condemns you to hell forever for not repenting your sins.
She was so aggressive that one of the other women in our group joined in to back me up but to no avail. In the end I just had to tell her that she was right as there was no way she was ever going to accept that I did not see things her way. I added “I am stupid. It must be because I am blonde” and she replied “well maybe it is LOVE”.
I had to think about this woman’s reaction and I can only suppose that she is an unhappy frustrated person on some level. People who are content and have inner peace may not agree with others but they do not have this overwhelming urge to be insulting and force their thinking upon you.
I honestly hope I never have the displeasure of meeting her ever again. Later, when we all went to bed, we could hear loud shouting (we were all staying in the same hotel overnight) and found out the next morning that her and her husband had the room next door to ours. I had to smile as she probably ended up taking out the rest of her frustration on her poor long suffering husband.
Then on Monday, I took my son and a friend of his to a nearby tennis club. As it was the first day of the tennis club, there were loads of children and parents and the main room was too full to wait in. We sat in an adjoining room where there was a notice stating “Croquet players and adults area only”.
An elderly woman came up to me and said that we weren’t allowed to sit there. Now it wouldn’t have been an issue if there was no other seating and we were taking up seats that she wanted to sit in, but there were many other seats in our area and this lady was passing through to play croquet. This is when I think people take rules too far and are just being silly. It’s a nasty small minded approach to the world that drives me nuts.
The reason I wrote this post was partly to have a moan but partly because I know many others who come across people who are difficult, aggressive or downright nasty. It happens to all of us. There is nothing wrong with standing your ground or challenging someone. Many people have kind hearts, don’t take themselves or life too seriously and that’s my kind of person.
It’s the people who have lost their sense of humour and have become bitter and twisted, ground down by life that behave this way. All you can do is feel sorry for them as they are projecting their miserable inner world onto you temporarily. At least you can walk away. They have to live with that poison and anger within them constantly.
Mandy X
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
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