The Pattersons : Clients of the able.

[dreadedcandiru2]

As howtheduck pointed out in response to my post yesterday, the Pattersons respond to major problems by not responding in the hopes that someone else will take care of things. For some strange reason, they fear, not so much confrontation, but looking like the bad guy. Let's take the first example he mentioned; Mike's troubles with the downstairs neighbors. Instead of having a sit-down with the Kelpfroths and actually getting to know them so he could figure out what they wanted, Mike wrote that slanderous article, after which he cowered behind Lovey Saltzmann. If he did have the sit-down I mentioned, he might had to admit he was partly in the wrong and that would never do. Each example follows the same pattern: a Patterson would directly hurt an outsider's feelings. Their inflated sense of self-importance makes them uncomfortable with anything that would suggest people might not like everything they do so to forestall that, they do nothing. It always seems to work out from their perspective because it gets done anyway. Their insularity, sadly, blinds them to the fact that the people who clean up their messes tell other people to avoid dealing with them lest they too be forced to put out Pattersonian fires all their lives.

Comments

[howtheduck.livejournal.com]

Their insularity, sadly, blinds them to the fact that the people who clean up their messes tell other people to avoid dealing with them lest they too be forced to put out Pattersonian fires all their lives.

You are spot on with this analysis. My favourite example of this was when Vivian Crane forced Elizabeth to tell Paul Wright she was leaving Mtigwaki. Then when Elizabeth found Paul Wright was cheating on her with Susan Dokis, no one in the entire town cared to tell Elizabeth. They completely stayed away from the situation. You could tell Vivian had let everyone know how Elizabeth had treated Paul.

[dreadedcandiru2.livejournal.com]

That's sort of what I had in mind. Nobody, not even Jesse Mukwa, really misses the Big White Fraud. It's the same deal with Lilliput's, I'd wager. Moira is simply marking time until Elly loses all interest in the place to make some much-needed improvements. (Starting, of course, with the restoration of the coffee counter.) I also doff my hat to the fellow who suggested that Gluttson was looking for an easy way to rid himself of Mike's useless presence when someone suggested he ask the Noble Scribe to fire some people. Not only did the new guy get rid of the rest of the dead weight, Gluttson has probably made sure Mike will never work in the publishing industry again.

[princessgos.livejournal.com]

You're both right. I bet that the rest of 4EVAH! want to break up the band so Gerald went to work for Beckers and Eva made sure Apes knew about it. She'll be so mad at the 'betrayal' the band will end and in a few months Apes will be bewildered, wondering where her 'friends' are.

Don't get me started on the hatchet job Johnston performed on The Noble Mountie.

White Goose charms into moving hundreds of miles then informs him she's going back to Toronto, doesn't make much of an effort to stay in touch, then acts martyred when the relationship dies. Ugh!

[dreadedcandiru2.livejournal.com]

It all works out for their exploiters, though. Without the band, April has no convenient excuse for NOT becoming Deanna's nanny and Blandthony needs a Mother to share Francoise's cage so it's all good for them.