You've been around them, worked with them or probably even related to them.
They get a free pass for being snappy, grumpy or just mean. You complain about them and you are told "that's just how they are."
Why do these people get a free pass?
Growing up I used to have issues with my dad and my mom would always say "well, son, that's just the way he is."
I never liked that excuse. If someone is an ass then they need to be corrected but most of the time people don't because they "don't want to poke the bear". (I don't like that term either)
So we just let the bear do what the bear wants to do.
The thing that always infuriates me is that if I have a bad day or a rare moment and act the wrong way I am the one called out about it. I don't get that "well that's how he is" pass. It is definitely a double-standard.
I can't tell you the many people I worked with that got a free pass because of their personality. I would often work for one attorney who everyone avoided if possible because he was difficult to deal with yet when anyone would fuss about him the supervisor would say - "well, that's (attorney's name) and you know how he is." Then once I am difficult and I get reprimanded by my supervisor.
One thing I have learned in my experience with these people is that it is a waste of time to try to win them over. You can't force them to change. They have been allowed to be their annoying personality for so long that it would take a Holy Ghost experience to change them. The only way we can be around these people who get a free pass is just to be who we are. Don't let their crappy personality poison ours.
No doubt we will always have difficult people to deal with. We aren't perfect either and I really hope that I'm not that difficult person to someone else. It would crush me to know that my actions are being excused away because that's how I am.
