I love to complain, and do so often. There are some things, however, I can’t help but complain about in a very specific way. Sometimes I just ignore the things that annoy me, and let my silence do the whining.

It’s working surprisingly well.

I think a lot of us would be better off if we ignored the problems that we have no way of solving and aren’t forced to address. We should focus more time on the problems we can address and leave the annoyances we can’t stand to their own devices, hopefully for long enough that they wither and are reborn as tolerable in the absence of attention. 

This idea found wonderful outlet in the “ignore Sarah Palin for a week” movement, and it’s a perfect example of the special breed of problem we should ignore. We all have Sarah Palins in our lives, even if, sure, we all can’t agree on just how much we should dislike them. These problems take many forms, but a few things are clear.

These Sarah Palins won’t go away. They’re everywhere, especially because it can be difficult to let the annoyance felt in their presence leave you even when they’ve gone. These people aren’t going to go anywhere. Sitting them down and explaining your complains isn’t feasible. Lashing out in anger wouldn’t do anyone much good.

People hold vastly different opinions about their Sarah Palins and won’t listen to reason. You get tired of going into laborious detail into explaining why, they truly are the ones not listening to reason. You get tired of explaining that you have listened to their arguments that and you’ve actually heard it more than they have.

These annoyances, I’ve learned, can’t be helped a large part of the time. Perhaps my impatience towards the arduous and draining problem solving process, which I feel should be obvious to everyone, speeds the choice along, but I still find that these annoyances are best left alone.

It’s not a first resort, of course, and ignoring someone or something before attempting to tolerate it and reason with them isn’t productive.

Ignoring the annoyances in your life can be the best response to problems that, like Sarah Palin, you have no mandate to listen to. At a certain point, discernible to an individual at a personal level, you can no longer put up with them, and you get so tired of complaining about it that even the complaining loses its usual zest.

At that point, it’s time to move on. Ignore it.