It appears that I need to be more precise when trying to make a point...

[kinsfire]

Apparently there was some confusion concerning my last posting, regarding voting.

Let me phrase it as I suppose that I should have.

If you have the capability to vote and do not perform this action, then I feel that you have lost any right to complain about the outcome. This means that Joe Blow down the street, who thinks that his vote is going

Comments

[galadrion]

*Grin* This is why I don't object when they do complain - it's so nice when one's targets self-select, isn't it?

Also, if you really want to irritate them... well, I learned this one years back, in Transactional Analysis. The complainers are trying to play the "Poor Me" game... so you don't. Instead, treat them as seriously as they say they want to be treated.

"Such-and-so is wrong!"

"I see. What would make it right?"

"We should do this-and-that!" (Note that the complainers will almost always use "we". This is a key point.)

"I see. And why are you not doing this-and-that?" (This is the other key point. It is trivially easy to bring the conversation back around to "Why are you not doing...", and you should use every opportunity to hammer this point home. Eventually, they will get the point that you are not going to allow them to evade responsibility, and they'll go away and bother someone who won't hold them accountable. If it's someone you like, clue them in as well, and if not, you've solved two problems.)