All I’m asking, is for a little Respect

-Otis Redding (but we all know Aretha Franklin’s version best, don’t we?)

Earlier this year, my friend, almost as a joke, and certainly as a way to vent out frustrations we were both feeling about some people in our lives, sent me one of those ‘note’ things they have on Facebook. The instructions were simple, all you had to do was write down your top five pet peeves. Recent events have made me look back on what I wrote, and I realized, it was still relevant, only this time, maybe not directed at the same folks (mostly because those people are no longer a part of my life).  In either case, here they are, five of the things you can do that will most certainly piss me off. (I haven’t changed one word… this is exactly the way it appeared in my ‘notes’ back in February… Hey, I’m nothing if not consistant)

1. Lies. I HATE Lies. I don’t care what kind of lie it is. My mother brought me up on the concept that even the sweetest lie is more bitter than the most bitter truth. I believe that too. Lying is a total form of disrespect… and I don’t go for that. Don’t call yourself my friend if you’re not and don’t tell me you love me when you barely know me. You know, like those people who just tell everyone that they “love” them. Really? You love me?? REALLY?? You’ve known me for 5 seconds.. I’m sure you mean it too.. yeah, right.

2. Empty promises. Don’t make promises you don’t intend to keep. I keep mine. If I promise I’m going to do something, it generally takes an act of God to stop me from actually doing it. I’ve been disillusioned so much by false promises, I’m really at the point where I rarely believe in anything anyone tells me they’re going to do, but on the rare occasion that I allow myself to believe someone’s words, I’d rather not feel like a complete idiot for having faith in that person.

3. People who do things because they feel obligated. I don’t want to be an obligation. I don’t want to feel like someone is being nice to me just because they feel they have to be. Seriously, I can handle it if a person doesn’t like me. I”ll get over it. What I won’t get over is feeling like an idiot because I believe an act of friendship is an act of friendship only to find out that they’re really doing it because they don’t want to hurt my feelings.

4. People who think they know everything about me… and then proceed to act like they know what’s best for me, or give me advice like they have a clue as to what’s really going on in my head. I’m a nice person. End of story. Right up until the point where I’m not. Don’t mistaken my being sweet for my being naive or gullible. I’m neither. There’s way more to me than most people in my life know or will ever know. Just because I SEEM to be an open book, doesn’t mean I really am.

5. People who feel they need to put on a show because it’s expected of them. You know the type. You know a person. You really know who they are.. not everything about them, but the essence of who they are… but when they’re in a crowd they turn into a caricature of who they think people want them to be. I loathe that. That is probably the quickest way to get me to lose respect for a person.. seriously.