How do you deal with it?
Being an extremely non-confrontational person, I don't know how. To avoid any form of conflict, I am willing to bite my tongue till it falls off, do anything and everything I hate doing, and put myself through any form of mental, emotional or physical pain. Even with all that, however, sometimes conflict is unavoidable.
For example, I came home tonight at 10pm after my classes ended (yes, classes on Sunday. Ridiculous.) I wanted to have a bite to eat, finish up the loose ends of work from the weekend, and go to sleep. I also had to be up at 5:30 Monday morning. Every Monday morning. My roommate is aware of this, however, he has decided to have company. Noisy, inconsiderate company. I made it obvious when I was going to bed. Two hours later at 1am, they're still unnecessarily loud. I finally went to the living room, told them I had to be up in five hours, PLEASE quiet down. I heard silence, giggles, more silence, more giggles, and finally they left. First of all, I know my roommate will look to me as being the bad guy when we get to class tomorrow morning, and I don't think I was at all unreasonable. Second of all, it's driving me crazy that I'm sure the "silence" was making fun of me, and the giggles were a by-product. I'm so riled now that sleep is certainly no longer coming. And I'm paranoid about dealing with him tomorrow, and seeing the people who were here tonight at class tomorrow. I know they'll be decent to my face, but who knows what they're saying to each other when I am out of earshot. If the shoe had been on the other foot, I would have been understanding to their needs. Why can't they respect mine? Why do I have to be the bad guy, and then feel embarrassed to be in public afterwards?
Am I severely over-reacting? Am I the one being juvenile, or is it the issue that is extremely juvenile? I don't know. I try to pick my battles, so maybe this just pushed me over the edge again? I don't know. I feel like my friends aren't truly my friends, and then when stupid things like this happen, I make myself the enemy, or the scapegoat for a few good jokes. It makes me feel like I'm in Junior High School with these people. Yet, I seek their approval. Why? GAH! I can't handle being judged. I think that's what it boils down to. Especially from my "friends."
This was just a venting because there's nowhere else to vent right now. I'm sorry if you read it.