Talked with a guy named Jerry last weekend.

He used to do a lotta door-to-door canvassing for political candidates.

Certainly not MY cup of tea. But who am I to judge — especially when I’m about to use one of his stories?

Anyway, as you can imagine, Jerry and his cronies used to get a lot of doors slammed in their faces.

And when they’d re-group at day’s end, all glum and depressed, one of ’em would invariably do this…

They’d hold a hand up near their ear and make a little twisting motion with their fingers, like they were using a cotton swab to clean out some nasty, waxy buildup.

Then everybody’d laugh and feel a little better.

How come?

Well, that little finger-motion stood for “Q-tip,” an acronym they were all familiar with but had to be reminded of once in awhile.

To these door-to-door canvassers, Q-tip stood for “Quit Taking It Personally.”

Good advice, I think.

Hell, we all take stuff too personally…

Does it bug you when somebody “unfriends” you on Facebook?

Are you annoyed that Aunt Sally thinks Game of Thrones is a waste of your TV viewing time?

Do you fret about every noodnik who isn’t 100% satisfied with your product or service?

Quit Taking It Personally.

Odds are you didn’t really know that Facebook friend all that well anyway.

And hell, Aunt Sally wastes HER time watching Dancing with the Stars, right?

And that disgruntled customer of yours might just be a bitchy little troll who’s never happy with anything anyway.

I’m not saying you’re perfect — none of us are — but MOST of the time, what other people think about you is THEIR problem, not yours.

Next time you’re moping about what somebody said or didn’t say, or did or didn’t do, think “Q-tip.”

It’s much more than just a handy tool for sticking in your ear.