The People around us...

We interact with a lot of people every day. Sometimes, we might irritate them. Sometimes we might even infuriate them. Do all of them react the same way, always? Well, not really.
They may react. They may not react. They may react then. They may react later. They may smile. They may frown. They may even get angry, or might just walk away expressionlessly. But do those smiles or frowns really express the feelings within. Well, may or may not be. This varies with people, with situations.
I have observed a varied set of immediate and delayed responses by various people, to situations where, I believe, one could get irritated or annoyed. Here is a list of categories I could classify people into, and objects I found them analogous to.
1. The Black Boxes: This, I believe, is the best breed of people one could come across. Like physical black boxes that absorb all light that falls on them, these people can bear anything you do to them. They are the most forgiving ones of the lot. They would never get irritated, never get angry. They may not always wear a smile on their face, but whenever they would, it would be an honest one.
Not that these people are never displeased with anything one does to them, but they would never make an issue out of it. They would always try and empathize with the person concerned, and forgive the person eventually. Such people are often taken for granted, but those who would realize that their disposition is genuine, and their expressions honest, would surely respect them to the core.

2. There's another similar category of people, who I would term the polished black boxes, as against the natural black boxes described above. These may not really forgive one for something, or may not really empathize with the person concerned, but then this would never be apparent. The one thing that differentiates this category of people from the ones described next, in my opinion, is that these polished black boxes do not show any late reactions. They might form opinions about a person based on their interactions, and might alter their methods or modes of interaction, but would never really want to punish one.
If a polished black box is a close friend, he might even let you know of things he disliked, or thought, could have been done differently.
But, mind you, these people cannot be taken for granted, because if one persistently continues to annoy them, the black polish might come off, and one may get a piece of their mind. But even in this case, the reaction would not be late. Most managers who are popular among their team members would, I believe, belong to this category.

3. Capacitors: The analogy may sound strange, but then I found people belonging to this category similar to capacitors, which are known to store electric charge. Such people, unlike the polished black boxes, would pretend as if they have ignored an incident that didn’t please them, they might even smile it away. But the stored charge might turn into electricity some day There could be two reasons for an outburst that one sees later. They either have waited for the right moment to vent out their anger (which could be in the form of a punishment, say a manager rating an employee poorly), or they have not been able to contain themselves any longer the latter category, I think, can become polished black boxes by enhancing their patience levels, while the former category is the most dangerous of the lot as you would not know you’ve hurt them, nor would you know when they might hurt you.
4. Phosphors: A phosphor is a substance that exhibits the phenomenon of phosphorescence (sustained glowing after exposure to energized particles such as electrons or ultraviolet photons). Such people, like capacitors, react quite late. But while a capacitor would drain out it’s charge only to its source, a phosphor emits light in all directions. Just about anyone could bear the repercussions when a phosphor might lose patience. A boss belonging to this category, who’s had an argument with his wife, might ruin the day for his subordinate.
5. Mirrors: They are the simplest people of the lot. Some people might find them the easiest to live with. Others might not like them at all. Mirrors are the ones who would retaliate immediately. They might shout at you, they might just frown, but like black boxes, their reactions would be equally genuine too.
Everyone who reads this blog might feel he or she knew this already, so how has one gained out of this post? One, this was just a way of venting out my thoughts. Two, I believe, that after having read this, one might start analyzing people, classifying them into one of these categories. This might help one in working out one’s ways of interaction with people around them. Also, a lot of people might just start observing their own reactions and might move up the ladder. One thing worth noting is that these categories aren’t watertight compartments. One might lie anywhere in between two of these, and might even switch from one to another at different times
I have been trying to find out ways of knowing which category one belongs to , just by reading one’s personality. Inputs on this are most welcome. Your views on this post will be appreciated too. :)