annoyed

A few weeks ago, my facebook status said something along the lines of, "When people say the education system is broken, it hurts my feelings."

See, I'm an educator. And it hurts my feelings.

I am under no false illusions about the education system. I do not think it's perfect. In fact, I think there are many flaws, and there is no "quick fix" from any one source to fix those flaws. I'm not trying to say that we don't need to improve education, but attacks on the system as a whole feels personal to me.

And you can tell that it's not, but it feels like it is.

I know this guy. I won't call him a friend because he's not. We are not friends. We know each other.

In all the years I've known him, he's never had one decent conversation with me. He only speaks to me to make snarky comments about Alabama football.

But, he decided to further our relationship and add "attacking my profession" to his list of conversation topics.

He felt the need to comment on my fb status- to let me know that it is actually broken, but that's it not a personal attack on me. I say my peace, but I try to let it go. But it made me mad. I mean, I JUST SAID that it hurts my feelings! What do you not understand????

Fastforwardafewweeks.

He messages me on fb chat. (Once again- we DO NOT talk. EVER.) Just so he can bring it up again. UGH.

It made me so mad that I just closed my whole computer.

Deep breaths. Cleansing breaths. Trying to get over it.

THEN.
I'm at church last night. And he has the AUDACITY to come up to me- SEEK ME OUT- to bring it up AGAIN. In the meanest way possible, I told him that I would not have that conversation with him. Not now, not ever.

In thinking about it today, I've realized that it bothers me on multiple levels:

• If this convo had been with one of my friends,then I wouldn't be as mad. But the fact that he doesn't have anything positive to say to me EVER is frustrating. Other people at my church single me out to encourage me on a regular basis, and he doesn't even speak to me outside of snarky remarks about Alabama football and to criticize my profession. just more than I can handle.
  
• The fact that the VERY FIRST time he said something, it was on a status that explain that this topic HURTS MY FEELINGS. So it's not like he didn't know that it was going to hurt my feelings. He knew. But being right was more important to him than my feelings.

And that's the biggest part.
It was more important to be right than to consider how I felt about it.
And THAT is why I'm annoyed.