Everyone has a Pet Peeve. I seem to have a lot of them. Here's one that became clarified for me today.
 People exist in their own little worlds, which is fine. Often, when you are describing something to a person, you can see that they are thinking up their response while you are still providing the info that will make the point of your story. As soon as you take a breath, they jump right in there with something that happened to them. Which indicates that they really haven't been listening to your story except as it pertains to them. I'm not saying that these are bad people. Just for that moment, maybe, they can't think about anything but themselves. This person could be a dear otherwise, so I usually cut them a break.

However, I do become somewhat ticked off when I'm describing chemotherapy and the conversation goes quickly south. At the end of my telling you about horrible side effects and pervasive fatigue not to mention the stress of having Cancer and I could Die, you launch into a completely unrelated story about the painful hangnail you had last week or the splinter you couldn't get out of your foot or the heartburn you got after eating a burrito! I mean, really! Were you listening at all? What does your stupid little discomfort have to do with battling cancer? Shut up already!! Maybe you could ask a question or two about the chemotherapy, which would indicate that you had at least a small interest in the actual answer to your original question about my chemo.

Well that felt good! A little rant always makes me feel better. I do appreciate all the concern. And some people are uncomfortable talking about cancer or feel like they don't know what to say. I understand that, I really do! So, here's a tip: Listen and ask questions and make comments about what you asked about first, then put in your two cents about the hangnail and we can maybe have a little laugh together contrasting our experiences. I do like to laugh...