The Word Petty

It was in March of 2017. An early morning before school. My mom came to wake me up and let me know that I had to continue what little rest I had left on a different couch spot due to my dad using my spot I liked in the morning. This made me let out an involuntary grunt of annoyance and I looked up to see my mom heard my grunt as she stared down at me with a displeased look. 

I attempted to stop the trouble by apologizing and that I didn’t mean to make the noise. My mom then responded with something like, “I don’t know what your problem is, but you better knock it off because you’re starting to get petty.”

Hearing that particular word of “petty” took me by surprise and confusion. I didn’t remember hearing that word before and I wasn’t sure what it meant. I also was very angry about the situation because I felt like that I didn’t do anything that big of a deal and that mom just overreacted. 

But from that point on I developed an intense dislike towards the word “petty” and refused to consider it a real term. Hearing my brother and dad later say it every time made me infuriated as it made me remember that ridiculous moment, which went on for years before it started dying down. Though I still get slight moments of irritation whenever I come across that word.

How I felt whenever I heard this particular word.