Of Drama Queens and Chauvinist Pigs

While growing up I always heard that if you cannot say something nice about someone, say nothing at all.  That is why I have been absent from this blog for the last week... I was busy getting my 'not nice' thoughts together so they sounder 'nicer'?

I am not the kind of person who has a lot of patience.  I often tend to blurt out exactly what I think and I know that sometimes I hurt people's feelings.  In my defense, I can say that I am much better than I was 40 years ago.

I still remember hurting the feelings of a good friend when I worked in the hospital in the 1970's.  A typically lunch hour for us consisted of walking to the J.L. Hudson Company in downtown Detroit and shopping. 

My friend came back from lunch and showed us some material that she bought for making a dress.  I took one look at it and said it looked like "old-ladies' house-dress material".  She was not happy.  (But it did look like something my mother would wear to clean house.)

This past week I seem to have had my fill of drama queens and chauvinists and decided to just keep my mouth shut, both when it occurred and then when I thought about blogging.  Now I am ready to say this to these people - JSTFU.

I know one woman in particular who I have tolerated for a few years and I have now reached the end of my tolerance.  Every conversation somehow always ends up back talking about her.  Or her friends.  Or family.  Whatever.  She will even interrupt a conversation so that she can bring it back to what she wants to talk about. 

On top of that, everything with her is a Greek tragedy.  She constantly has some ache or pain she wants you to know about.  More than I want to know about.  I also know all about her family, but I bet she could not tell you if I even have any children.

She is extremely needy.  I think being the drama queen is a quest for the attention she craves.  Unfortunately, she looks for it in every group she is in and I am in one of those groups.

Not to slight the other sex walking this earth, there are the chauvinist pigs (CP).  Fortunately, I think this group is dying out.  I say that because the worst offenders seem to be men over the age of 60, or thereabouts.  I find that they do not listen when I talk either.  Before I can finish what I am explaining, they are putting in their two cents worth because, obviously, I as a woman cannot make rational decisions on my own without their input. 

I marvel at the fact that women actually marry these guys.  I had a good friend who used to tell me to 'dummy down' because men do not like smart women.  I told him that he didn't seem to mind and he told me it was because he was 20 years younger than me.  He was born in a different generation.

That gives me hope that the CP will disappear or, at the very least, be less common.  As for the drama queen, I have no hope.  Most of the ones I know are relatively intelligent women.  So why not put your brain on display if you are seeking attention rather than your melodramatic life? 

I cannot feign interest in the tales of woe coming my way, but my other female acquaintances seem to thrive on this.  Sometimes I feel like I am living in a Dear Abby column.  Thank goodness for the relaxation of yoga so I can de-stress.

Do you have drama queens and CPs in your circle?  How do you deal with them?