Human Amperages

I really dislike cliche`d, hackneyed phrases like it's not rocket science, and try to avoid them as best I can. Hearing them all the time actually gives me the creeps. 
    
It's like we're being systematically dumbed-down.  Their repeated use in our society is downright--and forgive me for this overused term(but I can't think of a better one!)-- Orwellian to me, like they're getting it from the latest Newspeak Dictionary--I once used the variant expression dumber than a bucket fulla hair to describe someone's intellectual capacity(got it from one of the Ernest movies, and was just trying to vary the program a little bit)and was actually corrected: no, it's dumber than a box o' rocks!
  
 In other words, consult the Newspeak Dictionary if you have questions.
   
One common expression I do think is apt, however, has to do with likening human contact to dosages: I can take him/her best in small doses. A little of him/her goes a long way. And on the positive end: I've gotta get my fix of this person. 
   
Makes sense, since our bodies respond chemically to who we come in contact with, depending on how we interact with them, and them with us. Fritz Perls(the Gestalt Therapy guy from the 70's)referred to those individuals in our lives who have a decidedly positive or negative effect on us, accordingly, as toxic or nourishing.
  
On the negative end of things, the toxic individuals are, of course, those who just take it out of you. They drain the life from you either with their dramas or their ego-insecurities.You get a goodly exposure to such toxins in the environment when working in Customer Service. This can increase exponentially if it's a customer service position in a Social Service Agency. 
  
At that end of the spectrum, even the smallest dose of that person is deleterious. You need a counter-medication just to survive! Like the person who drives you to drink. 
  
The other polar extreme here is the nourishing individual. You feel good being around them. They just exude what's positive in life(well, besides medical test results or something..), and make you feel right at home with them. In a nutshell, they let you be yourself. 
  And thus, you feel uplifted instead of dragged down; filled with new spirit rather than drained of it. As far as doses, a teaspoonful of this kind of -nourishing- individual will carry you a long way.

Well at least that's how it goes with me. The most nourishing people in my life are those who take me as I am, who don't try to stand in the way of my being myself; and the most toxic are those who somehow try to chop away at those personal freedoms and liberties- who try(for whatever reason, nefarious or just stoopid)to keep me from being me.

So those are our polar extremes: folks so toxic you'd need an antibody of some kind just to be around them; and those so nourishing you could damn near O.D. on their presence. (Or in their presence, I guess, for that matter...). And of course, what's toxic or nourishing to me may not be to you. In fact, we may be completely reversed: my toxin could be your nourishment, and vice versa. But they're still there.

The vast majority of people I know work best in small-to-moderate doses. This doesn't mean, of course, that it's not friendly just because there's an imposed limit. It could be a barely contained civility of course, or we could just as easily get along great, but it's still best kept in these limited dosages(and I'm sure that's mutual). 

And within this range, there are definite gradation points. At the bottom of this scale are those whom I can handle okay for about 5 to 10 minutes. If I had to give it a name, I'd call it The Larry David Threshold. I can handle Larry David on TV until he starts becoming Larry David. In other words, until he starts displaying those qualities I find execrable. 

I'm pretty sure others have had this experience. People you like okay until they start turning into that person you don't like.  I had one such friend whom I liked just fine until he started drinking- until the political conservatism(at its worst when alcohol-fueled, as you can probably well imagine) started to rear its ugly head. That was his Larry David moment. And my exeunt. Stage right.. 

Slightly higher on the dosage would be all those folks you deal with on some professional level: they fix something for you, or you for them. There may not be any latent personality conflicts, but there's not a whole lot of material, just enough for whatever transaction takes place. My barber and I have the exact amount of material to cover the time it takes for me to get my hair cut. And that's just fine!

And the dosage increases for closer friends and family(even though family can sometimes contain the most toxins!). How much of them can you handle? And how much of you can they handle?

I myself am assuredly a mix of toxin and nutrient, how much of each being transmitted to a large extent dependent on who's doing the receiving. We are all the bane of someone's existence, sayeth an old bandleader I used to work for, and just as others have been the bane of mine, I'm sure I'm someone's worst nightmare. 

Or at least good for 5 minutes, until my Larry David moment.