Isn’t it annoying . . . when people are annoying . . . on purpose?

For example, on the bus the other day, I was sitting in front of an 8th grader who I happen to have associated with before, and he abruptly pokes me in the head for no explanation. Of course, I tell him to stop, and he does it again. After he does it several times, and I tell him to stop several times, I finally ask the bus driver to tell him off, thinking that now, he’ll for sure stop. She tells him to knock it off, and so, of course, he pokes me again.

Everyone has met a person like this. They’re unavoidably ever-present. These Nuisances cause so much grief in my life, and others, I’m sure, simply for the fact that they take pleasure in doing something to annoy you. It is, of course, understandable if someone doesn’t realize if something is bothering you (even though common sense dictates that certain things, such as poking somebody in the head, are rude things to do). But when you specifically tell somebody that something is irritating, and the Nuisances keep doing it simply for the sake of being annoying, they’ve crossed a very fine line between ignorance and irritation

Even worse is when it’s not irritation, but disrespect or impertinence. In the 1st period French class that I am in, there are two students who entirely disrupt the learning process. The teacher, Mr. Reynolds, is a fun guy who likes to pretend that he hates his students, even though he doesn’t. And, of course, his good natured students like to pretend the same thing right back at him. It’s all fun and games until these two Nuisances, knowing Mr. Reynolds’ personality, begin to act as if he actually is mean, which now, unfortunately, he sometimes is (because of these two). They intentionally disrupt class by making stupid comments, going to sleep, shout to each other in the middle of class, and pull out their cell phones and start playing on them, refusing to put them away when Mr. Reynolds asks them to.

The worst thing about the whole situation, or any circumstances in which this sort of thing occurs, is that the person, being me in the first story or Mr. Reynolds in the second one, is usually to polite to fight back. Some may think that this is a weak of shy thing to do, but to polite people, it makes perfect sense. To be rude back, or even to get mad at them, would be sinking down to their level, as well as stripping you of you dignity.