Sometimes We Just Want to Complain

Today I was running with some of my Cross Country kids. They routinely run about a mile, then stop to stretch. Well, one of the girls was sitting in the street doing her stretches. Yes, she could have used the grass or the sidewalk, but she chose the edge of the street. Probably not the best choice, but she was right at a 4-way stop, so the few cars that came by were traveling very slowly. And there was plenty of room for those cars to get by. I watched as two cars passed, the drivers smiling at her, apparently getting a chuckle at the incident. But when the third car came, this driver was not amused. A very sour look was on her face, and I could tell she was mumbling something at this girl. This girl was not in her way, and she didn’t affect this driver in any way, but still she complained.

Yesterday I was in church. Before the service started, one man came in, and was moving up to his seat in the front, where he has sat every single week for at least twenty years. He noticed there were some ropes along the back pews, and asked me what they were doing there. I replied “I don’t think they want you to sit there.” (The ropes were put there to try to bring the congregants a little closer, trying to make a slightly more “together” atmosphere.) He looked at me, with basically the same look as the driver from this morning, and said “Now they’re telling me where I can SIT!” Keep in mind that this man NEVER sits in those pews. It didn’t affect him in any way, but still he complained.

To be fair, to keep this from becoming a rant against all those complainers, I have to admit that I sometimes fall into this category as well. Which brings me to my point; sometimes we just like to complain.

In fact, there are times, I hate to admit, when deep down inside I think I actually want things to go wrong, just so I can complain about them. Does that make any sense at all? Of course not. Yet it is so. And these are not my proudest moments!

I think we’re all this way, just to different extents. The best and most positive among us hope for the best, and live with what happens. On the other extreme, some of us expect the worse, then complain nonstop about it. But as in most things in life, none of us are either extreme. We’re all somewhere in the middle. The best we can do is try to be as much toward the positive end as possible.

But my question is, what makes us this way? Why can some of deal easily with things that don’t really inconvenience us, while others feel it’s necessary to make a big deal and tell everybody how horrible things are.

All I know is, I don’t like those people. Nobody needs them, and they're not helping. Anything. In any way. No matter how important and justified they feel.

And I really don’t like myself when I am one.