You’re responsible to people, not for every mood they walk in with.

Caring about someone means showing up, telling the truth, keeping your word. It does not mean managing how they feel every day, which is not a job any person can actually do. Take it on anyway and you end up scanning faces, adjusting yourself constantly, treating their bad afternoon as something you failed to prevent.

Next time somebody near you is in a mood, ask what is genuinely yours: did you do something, and is there something to fix. If not, you can be kind without accepting the assignment. Sitting with someone is help. Becoming the manager of their weather is not.