“So is the paperwork ready yet?” he said as he rushed towards me.

“No! Not yet!” I replied defensively.

“Am I loaded in 22?” the other man edged on.

“No! You’re in 24!” I stated, as if I was the one who controlled everything.

“My van is 22! What’s the problem?” he continually edged.

As if their lives are ruined because they can’t hold some paper they won’t even look at but simply give to someone else! Or better yet because a van with the same interior and same engine is somehow inferior because the number is two digits different on the back of the van! So let me think: I back the van in the dock, load it, not after putting all the paperwork in order, and also double checking everything on a separate manifest. What do they do? Nothing! But do they appreciate it? No! They have to have a meaningless paper in their hands, and a number on the back of their van. Nit picking, nagging people are a hassle to deal with and they very people I do not want to become.

To rewind and recap. I work at a transmission warehouse and my job is, well, everything. I pull the parts, box the parts, ship the parts, take care of any paperwork, and double check everything. These people just happen to be the drivers. Everyday is the same. They walk in and just start nagging. The worst of them is actually this one quiet guy. For him he just can’t understand that I am doing the paperwork and so he will steal the paperwork and reorder it the way he wants to and then puts it back. Then of course I have to start all over.

You know the people I am talking about. Your doing your work for them and they have to have it their way, right now! Yeah, those are the people I am talking about. The ones that ask for help then critique everything you do. Those are the people that absolutely drive me even more insane.

After dealing with them though night after night I realized I’m not that different. I like to nit pick. I want everything to my specifications. Like one of my friends was talking about the classes he was taking in school and I noticed I had a comment on everything he had to say. “Well, I would’ve done this or I’m doing that.” I know it had to get under his nerves but I guess at the time it was just a habit I had formed. “I was the very thing that I hated.” Well, at least that seamed like the right cliché to use.

For this though I knew that it was going to be hard to change who I had over 17 years had become. Not exactly something to be done in just a few days. Every time though I would try and catch myself until it just became my new way, my new habit and thus virtually erasing what I had become in those 17 years. Still yet I have slipped a few times but I try to fix what I have nit picked.

Like with one of my friends from church. He was talking about a future.

“So what are you looking to do with your life?” I asked.

“I’m not for sure,” he replied.

Right then I was ready to say you are 19 and you should have a plan by now. What are you thinking? But to shock even myself I replied, “It’s good to keep your options open.”

Incidences like these, even though they stir up my raw emotion, I like. The only reason for this being is because after that I can step back and examine myself. The only thing is I don’t like what I see and it makes me feel ashamed, but at the same time I am grateful to these people because I caught it. One of the undesirable traits I have.

Looking in a mirror isn’t always pretty. I see these things I don’t like but to know that this trait, this habit, of nit picking is on its way of not being a trait or a habit, for that I am even more enthused. Nit picking is simply a way to loose friends and to get under peoples nerves. With this I would say it is proven that nit picking, nagging people are a hassle to deal with and the very people I wish to stay unaffiliated with.