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How to shut down an annoying person
It’s so easy, a grade-schooler can do it
In life, sometimes we encounter people who seem to have a knack for pressing our buttons. They know exactly what to do to get a rise out of us. And when we react the way they anticipate, we play right into their hands and regret it almost every time.
How do we stop these people from their obnoxious behavior? The answer is not to give them what they want. Make it not worth their time to instigate. My 13-year-old self learned that it sometimes actually works.
In seventh grade, it was recess at my school on a cold winter day. Standing on the playground with a friend, I suddenly felt my stocking cap lifted off my head from behind. I turned around to see two boys in my class running off with it.
The two were generally goofballs who enjoyed pulling minor pranks on other kids in their spare time. In other words, they were occasional pains in the ass.
Most kids would take the bait and run after them, begging for their hat back. Then a lame game of “keep-away” would ensue, where the two would toss the cap back and forth to each other, while the poor sucker in the middle would leap and dodge between them, trying to grab their cap like a frustrated puppy dog.
