where do we draw the line?

I have a hard time understanding why people do what they do. I'm no different - even I am inescapable underneath my own magnifying glass.

I'd like to think that I have a basic understanding of seeing all aspects of someone's character...but I've had one of those types of weeks where I found myself throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation shouting, "Why?! What is wrong with you?!" Okay, I really didn't do that, and my reaction was actually pretty close to cursing, but that's beyond the point.

This particular week, I was the unfortunate recipient of some _very_ undeserved disrespect. It was stupid and childish and yet, even though I should have left it at that, I remained bothered by it until I received an apology.

I think as adults, we tend to blame a lot of our own little quirks, tendencies, and discrepancies on a multitude of things: upbringing, a neat-freak mother, a control-freak dad, day-to-day stresses, other interpersonal relationships, etc. So of course, with this apology, came what I saw as an "excuse." This excuse covered a broad range of things - residual anger from an argument with another person, personal stresses, and it all sounded like a bunch of nonsense to me.

But where do I draw the line? On my end, where do I draw the line between being bothered and unaffected? On his/her side, where do I draw the line that this "excuse" was valid or a bunch of crap? I may sound forthright, open, and have a lot of nerve at times, but I'm in fact a very sensitive person - anyone who knows me understands this. Sometimes I take things to heart - yes, even the stupidest of things - and this is where I scrutinize why I react the way that I do.

I was very, very, tempted to accept the apology but chew this person out about their unprofessional behavior (I was disrespected in the presence of a client _and_ a coworker), immaturity, general lack of self-control in stressful situations, but that's where I had to draw the line on my end. That's where I have to have grace.

Yeah. I suppose I need a lot more of that.