Dana+Sebald-VanDoren

__People often think about being too intolerant of others, and this is indeed a problem; however, a less-recognized issue also exists: many individuals are too //tolerant//, which makes it easier for them to be pushed around.__ Some of them do nothing about it, and they suffer because they are always being taken advantage of. Many reach a point where they can’t take it anymore, and they become overreactive, so the situation is reversed. Still others reach a point where it’s too much to handle, so they try resolve the conflict tranquilly. This is what is usually works, because they are trying to be as tolerant as they can possibly be while still solving the problem, and also being careful not to go to the other extreme, and instead making it worse.

Maria was afraid of Rachel. That was why she never did anything about Rachel’s behavior. Rachel would tell Maria that she was ugly because of the way she wore her hair on the bus ride home from school, and Rachel made it clear that she thought she was the prettiest girl in the world and deserved all the boys’ attention. Maria would stick up for herself once in awhile, but normally she felt bad about herself, and did her best to ignore Rachel, except for the time when she obeyed her because she was scared of more insults. Rachel had demanded that Maria move over so that she wouldn’t have to sit next to a boy named Dylan. When Rachel moved away, Maria was overjoyed, but angry at herself for not standing up to her. She knew that if she would have used more courage and haven’t have been too lenient with her tormentor, the problem could have been taken care of much earlier, and she vowed that she wouldn’t act like that next time a similar problem arose.

__Emma was tired of putting up with her father’s attitude.__ He was normally a responsible, loving parent, but when he was stressed, he would snap at family for seemingly no reason when they asked a question or sign loudly when they met in the hall if the other person didn’t immediately give him the right of way. Less than a minute later, he wasn’t annoyed anymore, even though he never apologized, and acted totally normal, expecting everyone to pretend that it didn’t happen. Emma usually did nothing because she didn’t want him getting more agitated. However, when she had been dealing with it for more than ten years, she decided enough was enough.  Whenever her father growled at her from then on, she’d dramatically snatch up any up any items she would need and stomp off loudly. Emma knew that she was taking it too far, but at least it got her point across. It didn’t work, though, be cause her father still got angry over little things, even if he knew that it bothered her.  She was sure that if she tried talking to him, the problem would get worse. She sometimes considered it, but decided that it wasn’t worth the risk. As a result, she continued to have tiptoe around him when she was uncertain of his mood. Ava and Claire used to be close friends who had fun whenever they hung out together. Then Claire’s personality changed, and so did their friendship. Claire became moody and quiet and acted angry with Ava when she tried to joke around. Ava knew that Claire sometimes had problems at home with her siblings, but she was hurt because she seemed to be the only friend who Claire took it out on and thought that maybe Claire didn’t care about her. She kept it all inside because didn’t want to annoy Claire even more and totally destroy their friendship. After several months of that, Ava realized that she had been putting up with it for too long. Either things were going to improve, or it was time to end their friendship. She sent an email to Claire explaining that she noticed her personality transformation and asking Claire not to take her problems out on her, but also reminding her that she would be willing to listen if Claire wanted to talk. She suggested they speak in person. Claire never mentioned the email, yet things were different from then on. Claire was taking special care not to snap at Ava anymore. Ava was so happy that they were to getting along again. She concluded that the best way to fix an issue of this sort was to try to resolve the conflict peacefully.

All three girls had a difficult situation on their hands because they were too tolerant, yet all tried different ways of correcting it. Maria let it continue, hoping that the problem would rectify itself, but it carried on until Rachel moved away. Emma reached a breaking point, and then her reaction was just short of an explosion, but it didn’t solve anything. Ava was successful because she resolved the issue calmly. No one should ever tolerate anyone doing anything to hurt them, but they should take care that they don’t grow to be too intolerant. The best way to reach a solution is to use Ava’s pacific method.

2. Paragraph 2: The first sentence isn't a topic sentence. You could say say: "Maria was too amenable. She was also afraid of Rachel." Paragraph 4: Try adding this sentence: "Ava was fed up with her friend's new attitude."