I Told You So

So my parents' living situation is unraveling at a rapid pace.  I suggested that they get their affairs somewhat in order over the years to protect against this kind of traumatic unraveling but they had other plans.  I quit haranguing after a while - after a long while - because what do I know, really?  Not much.  I don't know much at all, certainly not about how other people should live their lives.
Empathy:   The intellectual identification of the thoughts, feelings, or state of another person.

I should be feeling nothing but empathy, willing to help out in any way that I can, but I'm having trouble tamping down the urge to say: "I told you so."  I haven't, praise god, but I do want to let anybody and everybody know how capable I am in managing the affairs of the world, despite copious evidence to the contrary.  The facts of my life serve as this evidence.

I think there's a human tendency to get frustrated at people who make things worse than they have to be.  My attitude is if you want to leave late for work that's your business, but if you get get fired don't come bitching to me.  Your behavior led to consequences and you should deal with them.  Still, it's no fun being a dick when someone is in trouble.  I'm annoyed that my life is being inconvenienced by the bad choices of others - or choices that I didn't agree with when they were being made - but that shouldn't trump being kind.

I have gotten better.  In almost every case when someone's behavior has pushed me to the breaking point, when I'm ready to speak my mind the next time it happens, I almost never do.  I can't bring myself to be that self-righteous, at least publicly.  I'm going to make bad choices in the future and they aren't going to work out very well and I'm not going to want to hear someone tell me how right they were and how wrong I was.