Human nature is one of the most interesting subjects to learn. You can meet such a variety of characters and personalities that you'll never get bored. As it was mentioned by the magnificent Jane Austen, "For what do we live but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?"
Our neighbours are those lucky people that never have lack of attention from our side. Likewise, we are the target of their critical and watchful eyes.
My uncle's neighbour in the village was notorous for her criticism. She was the first to notice if there was some disorder in anybody's dress or hair, or something misplaced in the yard or house of other villager. She would point to the discovered drawback immediately! To do her credit, she never uttered such remarks as "There's a stain on your left sleeve, dear".She had an artful way of delivering her criticisms. After seeing on a holiday one of the aunties in a new dress which she considered not very becoming to her, our critical neighbour would accidentally say (carefully choosing a moment when there were many women around) "Oh, I saw such dresses sold at a big discount in town. I'm going to buy one, too, for work in the kitchen-garden."
However, when her criticism turned to her husband, it became a mere nagging. That man had long ago been humbled by her. We don't know at which point of life she took over him. But at the time of our story the villagers quite often heard her shrill voice speaking to her husband "Look, the Semyonovs have already done the mowing! Why can't you do anything in time?" And I can't say that the villagers sympathized with the husband. Outside his house he was a boastful and arrogant man.
On early summer mornings when all the women stood at their gates to see their cows off to the pasture her young neighbour, a smart and jolly lad of twenty, would intentionally go past her gate from a still earlier fishing, with a large bucket full of silvery fish. He would pause on the doorstep just long enough to hear her call to her husband "See, that young lout has caught such plenty of fish again! Why can't you do it?"
But none of them knew that the bucket was more than two-thirds full of grass and stones, and the fish were only on top of them.....
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:))))))))Thank you Prince and all friends for your comments!
The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise but never see their own faults. I feel sorry for them.
Fault finders are people who are insecure. ambitious and jealous always. As much as possible, avoiding or ignoring them is the only way to get yourself out of trouble.
When I saw the picture, it reminded me of the "crab mentality" the every fault finder has. His destructive criticism is just a defense to his own weakness and flaws. An obvious reflection of what he really is.
Oi Inna,
Thnaks for sharing such a lovely and witty blog.
I also do the bucket trick when there are not too many mushrooms in the forest to pick. I pack my baskets - I usually take two baskets, just in case - with moss topping them with the few mushrooms I managed to find and proudly parade from my car to our block of flats making sure that a lot of folks see them baskets "full of mushrooms", the biggest are right on top, of course. LOL
Some people is never grateful and satisfied with what they have. That's why they always try to criticize or put down other people.