C’mon female anatomy.

Mood swings absolutely suck.

It’s like a mini storm before the larger, redder storm.

If you get my drift.

Arghhhh.

Cheapened Mannerisms.

Right. So for the first time in months, someone has somehow managed to annoy me about something seemingly trivial.

It seems pettiness is a huge pet peeve for me (I’m sure if I worked on that, I’d be able to pull off a solid pun).  The nit-picking of sorts irks me quite a lot, and so does the fixating on small detail(s) and lamenting about how unfair things are – which is quite ironic if you think about it, because it does come off as me being petty about… being petty. But hear me out.

I’ll narrow it down in this instance, as the particular incident revolves around monetary pettiness.

I’ll like to think that I’m that person who generally does a lot of brushing off when it comes to matters like these, but, ugh, did this matter bug me.

Basically, there’s a function of sorts, and the bill has to be split amongst twenty or so people. I’ve agreed to arrange the nitty-gritty of planning it all, and this would include me footing the bill first, and everyone can pay me back later. Which I’m totally fine with. If it lends any sort of structural visualization, this is for a slightly more formal event, which makes things a little more trickier, because money now becomes a slightly more delicate issue, which I’m happy to tread around carefully.

Here’s the deal though – I quite understand that money isn’t something everyone has an equal view about, and it is sensitive, and to a certain extent, people have a conceited ownership over, but, I’ve always believed in being very gracious about something so universal, even if you don’t always agree with another party about it.

There are books (and courses even) on the etiquette about handling and communicating your financial concerns in social situations (especially in a formal and somewhat cordial environment like an office or a wedding reception), so it baffles me when seemingly educated and socially-aware people are appallingly uncouth about parting with their finances.

Here’s the thing: I don’t expect people to be generous with their money. It’s their earn, after all, and I would never expect anyone to unwillingly part with something that they have no mandatory reason parting with.

However, I do get incredibly miffed when people gracelessly articulate their unwillingness to fork out a certain amount for something, and this is made even worse when they allude to someone else forking out an amount not deemed satisfactory by their standards.

And honestly, what will any of that whining achieve? I understand the need to letting your frustration out, but if you think about it,

1. Said other person is less likely to fork out more because there’s no way they know you’re bitching about them behind their back and
2. You’ve only made yourself look like a calculative and tactless ass to the people you’ve voiced your hostilities to.

Not a good way to go, obviously. I’m quite tight-lipped about my personal stand on this (in the given situation, at least), because me reverting to berating anyone on financial manners wouldn’t do anyone or anything any good, so I’ve decided to weave around these fragile affairs as prudently as possible, whilst moderating how much um, enterprise I’m exerting into this.

Honestly, the concept of how value > cost really needs to be circulated a lot more, together with manuals on pecuniary social etiquette.