bossy mcbossyboss

名称：bossy mcbossyboss
内容简介：
Dear Arizona,
　 My brother is always bossing me around. How do I get him to stop?
　 —Bothered by Bossy Big Brother in Boston







Dear Bothered,
　 First of all, I think you just set the record for most B words in a row! Second—and this is kind of embarrassing to admit—my little brother and sister could probably relate to your situation. They were always saying that I was bossy. And it wasn’t until I met a very bossy person that I understood how they felt!

My school was holding a fundraiser called the Spring Fling Fair, and everyone was going to help out. I was pretty excited about it. But my excitement quickly turned into complete and utter miserability! I know miserability probably isn’t in the dictionary, but just wait—you’ll see what I mean.

There were lots of committees to choose from: music and entertainment; tickets and advertising; refreshments; party decorations; games and activities. I chose the last one because games and activities sounded like fun.

“OK, everybody,” said Mr. Pinsky, the Spring Fling organizer, “we have a lot to do and not much time. So you’ll need to cooperate with your team.”

Unfortunately, cooperate and team seemed to be foreign words to one particular member of my group. For the purpose of this letter, I’ll refer to him as Bossy McBossyboss.

“I’ll be the leader!” he announced.

“We’re not supposed to have leaders,” my friend Mareya Becker reminded him. “Remember what Mr. Pinsky said? Each person is an equal member of the committee.”

“OK, I won’t be the leader,” said Bossy. “I’ll just tell everyone what to do!”

I laughed, thinking he was joking.


“Should we start by making a list of possible games?” said Jackson. “How about that duck pond one?”

Mareya took out a notebook and wrote Duck Pond. “I always like Go Fish,” she said, adding it to the list.

“Isn’t that a card game?” I said.

Mareya shook her head. “This is a different kind of Go Fish. In this one, people put fishing poles in the pretend water and pull out surprises.”

“That’s a game for babies!” Bossy blurted. “We need challenging games that test people’s skills.”

“How about we have hard games and easy games?” suggested Jackson.

“Yeah,” I said. “Something for everybody!”

“Let me see that.” Bossy grabbed the list, then put a big X through Go Fish and wrote Balloon Darts.

“Excuse me,” said Mareya. “Don’t you think that was a little rude—just grabbing the list without asking?”

“Relax,” Bossy said. “Everyone loves Balloon Darts. Trust me. I’ve been to lots of fairs!”

Every time we got together, Bossy McBossyboss did the same thing. Whether we were choosing games, trying to figure out prizes, or setting up booths, he never seemed to realize that he was part of a team with three other people.

At last, it was the day of the Spring Fling Fair, and we were all running around getting ready.

“You need to make the horseshoes sign hang straighter,” Bossy commanded. “It’s way too crooked.”

“Would you please do it yourself ?” I said. “I’m kind of busy organizing the prizes.”

“There are way too many pink balloons on the wall,” Bossy complained. “You should add more blue ones.”

“Feel free to go ahead and add them,” Mareya said.

The best (or maybe the worst) example of Bossy McBossyboss’s bossiness happened when the Spring Fling Fair finally started. This adorable little girl was fishing for a prize at our Go Fish booth, and Bossy grabbed the fishing pole right out of her hands!

“You’re holding it all wrong,” he told her. “Do it like this!”

If that had happened to me when I was four or five, I would have stood there silent and confused. But this little girl looked up at him, took a big breath, and said, “That may be the right way for you to do it, but it’s not the right way for me.”

And that, dear Bothered, was probably the best thing this little girl could have said. Bossy people aren’t bad people—they just may not realize that their way doesn’t have to be the right way for everyone.

The good part of this experience is that it helped me understand how my brother and sister felt when I told them what to do and didn’t stop to be polite or consider their feelings. Now that I try to act more patient and less bossy, we get along much better.

So if I were you, I think I’d nicely ask your brother to stop acting like Bossy McBossyboss and remind him that you’re much more likely to listen when he suggests things in a friendly way.

Ciao for now,

Arizona