The Trifling Post (Write Anything Wednesday)

This post¹ is brought to you² be these three words: Somebody Else Can.³ Really, that’s what it boils down to, when you understand what a trifling person is.

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My Definition of Trifling

What do I mean by a trifling person anyway? As I’ve come to see, there is a huge difference between being lazy and being trifling. You may be able to light a fire under a lazy person once in a while, but you won’t have much luck with a trifling person.

Now, if you look up the word “trifling,” the word is synonym for “lazy,” but that doesn’t even begin to describe what I mean for the word. Here are some definitions:

From Merriam-Webster

Here is Merriam-Webster’s definition of the word lazy:

Definition of lazy

lazier laziest

1. a:  disinclined to activity or exertion :  not energetic or vigorous b :  encouraging inactivity or indolence <a lazy summer day>
2. 2: moving slowly :  sluggish
3. 3:droopy, lax <a rabbit with lazy ears>
4. 4: placed on its side <lazy E livestock brand>
5. 5: not rigorous or strict <lazy scholarship>

The first two definitions apply here.

Merriam-Webster’s definition of the word trifling:

Definition of trifling

1. : lacking in significance or solid worth: as

a:frivolous <trifling talk>

b:trivial <a trifling gift>cchiefly dialect:lazy, shiftless <a trifling fellow>

Part 1b applies.

From Dictionary.com

Here is Dictionary.com’s definition of the word lazy:

lazy

[ley-zee]

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adjective, lazier, laziest.

1. averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent.

2. causing idleness or indolence: a hot, lazy afternoon.

3. slow-moving; sluggish: a lazy stream.

4. (of a livestock brand) placed on its side instead of upright.

verb (used without object), lazied, lazying.

5. to laze.

And apparently, the word has German roots.

Defintions 1, 3 (depending how one uses it), and 5 apply.

Trifling as defined by Dictionary.com:

trifling

[trahy-fling]

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adjective

1.of very little importance; trivial; insignificant: <a trifling matter>.

2.of small value, cost, or amount: <a trifling sum>.

3.frivolous; shallow; light: <trifling conversation>.

4.mean; worthless.

noun

5.idle or frivolous conduct, talk, etc.

6.foolish delay or waste of time.

Interesting enough, the fifth and sixth definitions (under noun) also apply.

So basically, a trifling person combines extreme laziness with the propensity to waste time on trivial matters. It’s not just procrastination (on the part of the lazy person), but the outright refusal to do important tasks.

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For Example

I’ll admit it. At time, I can be lazy outside of a work setting.

My desk area and room can be messy at times. But after a while, I will get sick of looking at the mess and try my best to organize things. I may need help sometimes, but I would feel guilty letting someone else do all the work.

See, a lazy person may just pitch in if another person gets things started and just take over. The lazy person might not do the best job, but that is what happens when a person lazes about and procrastinates.

A trifling person is much worse. If you know a trifling person, they will make a show of “cleaning up” so others can see that person doing a horrible job. The purpose of that display is for people to push the trifling person out of the way, do the work for them, and never ask them to do certain any tasks ever again.

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What Makes Trifling People So Frustrating

Trifling people do not want to do things for themselves nor help anyone else. Even worse, they may even go above and beyond by actively inhibiting people who want to work. If you wanted to do something around the house yourself, this individual will be like a Snorlax sitting in your way.

While this person is playing video games, they refuse to pause and move so the carpet can be vacuumed.

They may decide to eat over the kitchen counter right after it was cleaned.

And they decide to bathe, leaving dirt and clutter in bathroom, right after that was cleaned.

Then they only say things to try and get others off their backs.

“Oh, I got to play this video game.”

“Hey, I’m watching this sleazy talk show. It’s so important.”

“Hold on.”

Then an hour later, nothing gets done.

Basically, a trifling person expects — nay, insists — no, wait … demands that others clean up their messes. This is coupled with the refusal to clean up after others.

Really, if you have a roommate like this and you have to clean up your apartment/house/domicile on short notice, you may hear something like this: “Well, you need to clean this place up,” or “You need to do this,” despite you not having made the mess in the first place. Or they might use the term “we,” but that still means “you.” The trifling person turned the place into a pig sty, and now YOU are supposed to fix things.

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What It Boils Down To

Some of the worst people want to go through life by being as irresponsible as possible. When these types of individuals are really stubborn, it will translate to almost all aspects of their lives:

• “Somebody else can change the channel. I don’t want to get up.”
• “Somebody else can pack my suitcase.”
• “Somebody else will clean this mess.” A variation of this is, “If you don’t like this mess I made and it bothers you so much, why don’t you clean it up?” (Would they do the same thing if your mess bothered them? Of course not.)
• “Somebody else will wash my clothes.”
• “Somebody else will go to the store.”
• “Somebody else will cook breakfast.”
• “Somebody else on this team will do this job for me.”
• “Somebody else will pay my bills.”
• “Somebody else will help me pay for gas or this extra shit I could have paid for on my own. I foolishly wasted most of my paycheck — as I always do — and just about everyone I know is strapped for cash. Hmm … that reminds me …”
• “Hey, somebody else will borrow some money for me.”
• “Somebody else will repay this person I owe.”
• “Somebody else will raise my children and make sure they don’t watch porn.”
• “Hey, you’re the teacher. It’s not my job to make sure my kids understand the curriculum. You’re somebody else. Do your”

If you know someone like this, it can be maddening to be around this person. It’s hard enough doing for yourself, let having alone a [grown] person put more work on you when they can do better.

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Notes

1.  For this week’s Write Anything Wednesday, I adapted an older post I published on another blog. I have rearranged some text, added more thoughts, and cleaned up some of the language for general consumption.

2. This post is dedicated to SparkyJen, who wanted to read my thoughts on the subject.

3. After a time, “Somebody else can” becomes “Somebody else will.”