My superpower, my bane

It has been brought to my attention, not for the first time and quite possibly not the last either, that my superpower bothers people. My superpower, you see, is faultfinding. I have an uncanny ability to spot mistakes. This, in itself, would probably not annoy anyone. But in my zeal to help straighten out someone else's work, I seem to step on toes instead. I become the busybody, the enemy, when what I'm actually trying to do and be is quite the opposite. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I only take pains to correct someone when I care. It is only when I have a certain amount of respect either for the person or the work in question that I bother to play the school mistress. In the majority of cases, I don't bother.

I would prefer to be corrected than to be left wrong. But apparently I'm in the minority in this. Most people, it would seem, take offense instead of being appreciative of someone trying to correct them. I guess they perceive it as a putting down of them. Their egos are hurt by what appears to be condescension when in fact it isn't at all. Is condescension, then, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder? Should I feel bad about having hurt someone inadvertently? Or am I allowed to feel hurt at having been misjudged? I feel a bit of both right now. I am both indignant and sad. I apologized to the person in question, but it wasn't a heartfelt apology. A part of me, a rather large part, felt like they were the one being rude. Why should I have to apologize for their touchiness? But such is the way of human social interactions. Sigh.

The irony here is that this person was bemoaning the lack of real honest interactions with their fellow denizens. Now thanks to their telling me off, there is going to be one less person who is straight with them. Can't have your cake and eat it too, bro.