The more I work with the public, the more I understand Vox Day’s principle of Delta Narcissism and the average Joe’s undying urge to offer unsolicited advice and needless “improvements.”

Every week where I work, supplies arrive and I stock the storerooms with them. I open the cardboard boxes with an old key on my keyring, slicing through the tape. Sometimes the tape is tough or the box is crooked and you have to struggle a bit. Every week, there are other workers who see me opening boxes and rip my keys out of my hands so they can show me the “right way” to do it. Their “right way” always ends up being the exact same thing I’m already doing, and they soon encounter just as much difficulty as I did. They don’t ask permission, but they just can’t help themselves from dropping everything they’re doing just so they can show me how much more competent and helpful they are. These are nice people, I like my coworkers, but damn if it doesn’t irritate me.

One of the most important social lessons I’ve learned is to STOP. FUCKING. HELPING. Nobody likes unsolicited advice (which, from the wrong tongues, is known as “nagging”), and any idea you might have to improve things is not really going to help all that much. And if someone offers their “suggestions” to you, just swallow your bile, smile, and say “that’s a good idea, I’ll bear it in mind for next time.”