Stop Being Contrary Just to be Contrary!

Ever come across someone who constantly feels the need to argue? You say, "left." They say, "right." You say, "that's pretty." They say, "that's hideous." And on and on.  No matter what you say, they feel the need to argue the complete opposite!  Drives me totally insane!  These contrary people don't actually have a good or relevant reason why they choose the opposite point of view.  If they did, then I wouldn't have a complaint, but more often than not, they just want to have a reason to argue.  

I come across this problem on a daily basis.  It's one of the annoying factors about teaching teenagers. They just feel the need to argue constantly instead of just listening to reason. I know it's probably a little ridiculous of me to expect teenagers to be reasonable, so I don't actually.  No, what is infuriating is when you come across such obstinacy in an adult! One would think that by the time someone hits 30, 35, 40, 45, etc., that they would have matured to the point where they don't feel the need to always be right and yet... (You'll notice that I started with the age of 30.  I'll allow some lingering immaturity for people in their 20s.)

Of course the best way to deal with people like this is to not engage them, but that annoys the heck out of me because then they end up winning when they're completely wrong.  But I do find that it is just easier and healthier to just walk away. I am the first person to admit when I'm wrong so I'm not saying that I'm incapable of admitting to another person's opinion. It's more about when you are around a person repeatedly and you notice that they are antagonistic about anyone else's opinion.  They are always right and everyone else is always wrong.  <grrrr>  I have learned in my years of living to just avoid these people like the plague.  Hard to do when you work with them for 8, 10, 12 hours a day, but somehow you get through it.