How to Irritate People

The urban family took a weekend trip to Charlottesville. We went shopping, tasted wine at a vineyard, enjoyed several good restaurants, and visited UVA. But, the highlight of our mini-vacation was a tour of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

Almost as soon as we stepped inside the foyer and the tour began, John Cleese came back to haunt me. I frantically dug in my purse for the phone as I made my way back toward the front door. My hand was on the knob when out of nowhere a docent grabbed me, pulled me back into the house, and shuffled me off into a back hallway of the house.

After turning off my phone, and receiving a scolding, I was allowed to rejoin the group. The guide never missed a beat, but my friends could hardly catch their breath from laughing.

Thomas Jefferson said it best, "Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances." It seems as though we have quite a handicap.