The Confident Man or Woman

The Confident Man or Woman

I'm one of those people that are never satisfied. That's not to say that I don't enjoy life, far from it. It's more that I am always analysing, thinking and predicting. The outcome of all this, is that I like to try different ways of doing things. Sometimes the new way doesn't work, sometimes it does and I try to bed it down before moving on to the next improvement.

Perhaps, part of the reason I am this way is that I'm task oriented, (a psych term if ever there was one). As a rule, I don't care how I get there, but once I set myself a goal, I don't stop till it's achieved. I rarely think about ego, my own or anyone else's, nor do I tend to worry about people's feelings.

This has dropped me in a lot of hot water, both in my private life and at school. I say that something is not going to plan and therefore needs to be fixed and the person responsible for that thing invariable takes offence. Clearly I am calling into question their right to exist as a human being.

Why are so many people so thin skinned? If I don't feel anything negative towards someone, and therefore no hint of sarcasm or accusation should enter my words, and I am stating nothing but facts and agreed objectives, where is the justification to take offence? Are we so far down the road to political correctness that we can no longer even talk about areas that need work, without being accused of being insensitive, authoritative, etcetera?

As another example, while playing tennis doubles I ask my partner to cover more of the centre-court when I am receiving. I explain that the server has a wide angle serve which is forcing me to return from outside of the court entirely. Do I get a nod of agreement and a more effective team? No. I get hostility because the message inferred was that my partner was not pulling her weight or was responsible for the last point lost or some other imagined insult.