Complaining just stirs up excess negative emotions without ever doing anything about them, it doesn’t provide an escape of any sort.

So artfully said, I agree completely.

The puritanical approach quoted here, that people who complain are inherently bad or broken, is absurd. Things have almost gone too far in the US.

I recall an incident in a well known (vitamin) store, where I gently questioned the manager that the price I was being charged for my goods at the register, was not the price that was advertised on the store shelf.

The manager abruptly advised me that it was an error on their part, but that I should absorb the higher cost. So, I politely questioned the policy, advised them that I thought this was not good service, and suggested that they ought to absorb the cost, since they offered it at that price at the point of sale.

A “lady” proudly wearing her Ivy League alumni sweatshirt, waiting near me at the register, interjected that I ought to “quit complaining” and “go back to my own country.”

This was not the first time I have witnessed Americans (outside of NYC) gang up on someone exercising their rights in restaurants and stores. It is so bizarre that we are even expected to tip here, whether the service was good or bad. We all know of people who have told us of their terrible experience at a restaurant. only to find that they “didn’t like to complain” thereby setting the standards for others who follow.

I suppose what is important, is to look at things in relative terms, i.e. what sort of action does the situation require and what is the best way to create that action. There is certainly nothing wrong with pointing out a flaw in a system, thereby assisting in continuous improvement.

However, to cease complaining is as harmful to one’s health and sanity as behaving like the universal victim, abdicating responsibility for cause and effect, and complaining with every breath is.

It is all about a balanced approach and relying on all of the senses, not just emotion, to signal the appropriate response.

Hmmm. Sounds like some buttons are being pushed.

Sounds like an opportunity for you to demonstrate all this positivity you and others keep talking about and help these people find solutions and effect change. Model the behavior of non-complaining. create a work environment where people don’t feel the need to complain.

Let me ask
What exactly constitutes complaining?

if someone, very neutrally, raises an issue and seeks change/improvement, is that complaining?

One wonders if all this polarity–negativity versus positivity, etc.–were to be eliminated, and things were not either/or, and could just be, if both folks (those who complain, those who complain about those who complain) could just let it be. Wouldn’t that just remove the charge for everyone and open up things for change/improvement on all ends? All this labeling. Ugh.

Note to those who complain about people who complain: YOU are complaining…doing the very thing you don’t want others to do. So, LOL.

However, it is great to make a commitment like this. It is not helpful when you are stuck in a cube all day and everyone around you is stuck on complaining & whining all day long! It is a total bummer & the complaining is very infectious and a complete drain.

Complaining to someone about a bad customer service experience doesn’t help anyone. Calling a supervisor and asking them to discuss the issue with the offender does. Trying to solve a problem is not complaining. Just venting about what sucks in life is complaining. Ever notice how someone else complaining to you leads you to complain about something else back and pretty soon you have a room full of whiners.

I think if you practice complaint avoidance, you may begin to notice the negative impact complaining has on your life. It becomes easier to notice the good when you leave out the bad. Not only that, complaining just makes you look bad and/or unprofessional in the eyes of others. Present your listeners with solutions, not problems and you will shine in all aspects of your life.

As Andrew Statika said, the more you complain, the easier it becomes. The more you focus on the good, the easier that becomes as well.