Thursday, May 17, 2007

Rant: Entitlement

I am like most people. I get along with a vast majority of people. But there is one type of person that gets under my skin, those that feel entitlement. Why do people feel they have the right to always be included? Fact is, life is seldom fair. You won't always be on the invite list and perhaps it has nothing to do with you. Maybe someone could only invite a select few, maybe they thought you'd be uncomfortable, it could be you don't mesh well with the common group or perhaps it just slipped their mind.

What do these people do that they think they should receive the "benefit" of an invitation? Nowhere does it state that it is required. And more often than not, these people use the tactics of manipulation to con their way into an invitation. Why should you feel bad for not inviting someone to say a ball game? A night out on the town? Dinner? A trip? Yes, I'm sure people would love to go, but simply put, not everyone may be invited. If I invited everyone I knew to a bar on Friday night, then there wouldn't be anyone I didn't know. Isn't that half the fun of going out and living? Meeting new people? Sharing experiences?

I am a "more the merrier" type of person, but do not think that I don't get disgruntled by people inviting themselves. Most the time, I will tell you to come along or meet me there, no big deal. But sometimes, it's nice to have some one on one time. Sometimes it's nice not to have to juggle multiple conversations. Those that feel entitlement always seem to take things personally as well. Invitations or lack there of aren't about taking things personally. It's about the event, the company or some variation of both. If you harp on me and make it personal, I will most likely consciously not invite you the next time.