At least once a week, I meet or have to deal with a person who, for whatever reason, doesn't respect me. Sometimes it comes across as blatant arrogance, and other times, it's more subtle, buried deep inside of a passing comment they make to me. I don't really mind this too much, because in social situations, I don't always act in a manner that demands respect. (It's the whole thing about reaping and sowing, I suppose.)

But a more important thing to consider is this: while it would be easy for me to conclude that I catch people treating me with a lack of respect because I'm so perceptive, isn't it true that almost all of us can detect when someone we're talking to doesn't respect us? I think we all pick up on this kind of thing pretty easily, even if we're not aware of it, and even if it doesn't occur to us until much later, when we're no longer talking to that person.

Thinking about this led me to a pretty important maxim: don't deal at length with anyone you don't respect, because sooner or later, they're going to figure it out. And when they realize it (it's a matter of when, not if), it's going to ruin the relationship. Even people who seem oblivious are relatively quick to pick up on the fact that someone they're talking to isn't treating them with respect.

Granted, we can't all choose the company we keep all the time. We all have to work, and sometimes, in those situations, we have to deal with people that we don't respect. In these situations, my best advice: find a good reason to respect them and focus on that. Ignore the other stuff; put it out of your mind. Everyone has aspects of their personality that are respectable. Focus on those.

If nothing else, it might make a bad job a little more bearable.