“One source of frustration we seldom recognize is in expecting too much of others or expecting too specifically what we feel they ought to be, say, give or do.” (ODAT, 4 August)
All expectations are unreasonable or unrealistic.
If there’s no reason on earth why others should obey me as their superior, then the expectations are unreasonable.
For those situations where someone is simply breaching morality, etiquette, or good sense, then the expectations are unrealistic.
How do I know? Because to be realistic is to be in line with reality. How they did act was what I should have expected.
I once thought I was ‘abandoned’ by a friend. I wasn’t. He wasn’t a friend. That was my mistake.