Are there some things you've done out of good intent but then end up feeling like you're the only one trying?

(Not always, not all the time I am no saint) I pick up rubbish from the pavement or the park that I frequent and throw it in a waste bin.
I know, and sometimes see, that there are a few others that do the same, but it is more usual to see other people throwing their empty cans and wrappers where they walk or sit.
That I don’t understand, and it makes me angry.

@Neizvestnaya Relax. The pigs loading their plates will be carrying that extra food on their butts and around their hearts and lungs for years. Their gluttony shortens their lives and makes them unable to do the things that make life worth living. You don’t have to curse them. They are doing it to themselves.
Mr Creosote

@rebbel: I get irked when I pick up garbage in public too and then see someone throwing crap out their window just moments later.

@worriedguy: You crack me up. Yeah, I’m kind of edgy and in need of sleep! I just feel badly because many of our guests are seniors who take the time to come to our events clean, nicely groomed and fill their plates in moderation whereas the younger people (-60) are so pushy. Oh well.

It is what people do when they hear “free food.” Just ignore them.

Yes. I was feeling like that a lot with a certain group of people. After a while, and it took years, I stopped putting any effort into trying to arrange things with the ungreatful group of them. Fuck ‘em.

As for your food example, people are gross, what can I say. Sit back and talk behind their backs about how crass they are. But, don’t let something like that stress you out. At least they seemingly appreciate our efforts. Now, if you here one of the piggies complaining abut the food, then I say it’s on, those would be fighting words in that case. LOL.

Next time… at the buffet table… put little signs on the platters… make them funny…

“Save some for the rest of us”

“You don’t have to pig out just to prove what we already know about you”

“Trash can usage is free today”

“Why fill your plate when you have empty pockets?”

“It would look better if you came back for seconds in five minutes”

“Hoarding causes horrible heartburn… Lighten up”

and at the end of the line…

“Are you going to eat all of that here?”

Sure. Most of my working life was like that. I was working for single payer health coverage in the US. No one else seemed to care. They kept on electing people who want to deny access to them unless they can pay an arm and a leg. Literally.

So I was like, why do I care? It got very depressing. It’s still depressing what with the mush we got that people call Omama Care. It’s hard to believe that people out there want to take away health coverage when there are already so many people without.

But I guess my work wasn’t all for nought. We’ll see.

Yes, this happens all the time, and I feel your pain. Here is what I have discovered: it typically occurs when the others do not have a clear understanding of the goal. It comes down to a lack of communication. One person is told to complete a task, but it isn’t clear to them why this task is so important.

In your scenario, co-workers might be told to attend a dinner function for clients, but they aren’t aware of the bigger picture as to how important it is to play host to the guests. They don’t understand that this dinner is an extension of the sales and marketing efforts to keep the dealership ‘the first choice of potential buyers’. Some of the co-workers just see it as another task they need to complete in order to keep their job.

In this case, it could also be a lack of good manners, but that is a whole other discussion.