by Joan Inong

Created on: June 16, 2009

We have all probably met at least one person in our lives who complains about everything. They will complain about everything big and small, whether it is about their dog or how their back is aching, or how they hate their jobs. And, most of all, they will complain not just once, but twice, thrice, and all the time.

The world as it stands today is ripe for reason to complain about almost everything. We are taxed too much. We pay too much for rent. We don't make enough money if we are working some blue-collar job. We can't do the things we want to do when we want to do them. We meet people we don't like. We think about people we don't like, even if we will never meet them. We may have to deal with living in a place we don't want to live in. We are stuck in a day-to-day life that seems to be, not in service for ourselves, but for "the Man."

If we think of it this way, then we can see why some people like to complain. Or, maybe to reduce that notion even further and more concisely: we can see why people complain in general. There are a lot of things to complain about. But, does this authorize some people's constant complaining about the same things?

We can admit that we must all have complained at least once in our lives. In fact, most of us have probably spent at least one day complaining. We all have those moments. But those who complain everyday and all day are subject to some kind of outward pressure. It may become a force of habit, and one that isn't easily noticeable.

For instance, if we worked at a terrible retail store and had to deal with customers all day long, some of those customers' attitudes may wear off on us. If, for instance, we have one bad customer who complains out of ten good customers who are really kind, that one bad customer has ruined our day. Then, we get to complain about how that person ruined our day. Complaining seems to be a contagious disease, if not a disorder, that isn't recognized (or at least acknowledged) until much later.

Our lives may be full of complaining, but we can't let complainers take hold of us and allow their attitudes to rub off on us. We can't spend too much time complaining because doing so does not fix our situation. We can complain about how we are taxed too much, but how do we solve that issue by ranting against the government? The only cure to stop our complaining is action, and we cannot act unless we close our mouths.

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