Humble Tidbits of Vacuity

Everybody has their own preferences…their own way of doing things. Maybe you put your socks on before your underwear. Maybe not. Maybe you like the toilet paper to pull down the front instead of down the back. Maybe you choose Coke over Pepsi. Or Durex over Lifestyles. Whatever your preferences are, they are what make you YOU.

And that’s just great. Our differences in our preferences can be the source of good natured ribbing (“Salt on your watermelon? What kind of freak are you?”) or they can be the cause of heated debate (“There IS a God?” “No there is NOT!”).

We interact with people every day who have different opinions and preferences from us. And things are usually pretty smooth. But every once in a while you run across someone who thinks that his/her preferences or opinions are the RIGHT and everyone else is wrong (or an idiot).

I know someone like this and, the more contact I have with this person, the less I want to be around him. And it’s not because we have a difference of opinion on just about everything…it’s because I’m being tired of being told I’m just flat out wrong in my choices.

For example, I’m “wrong” or I “don’t know what I’m talking about” or I’m “an idiot” because…

I like Family Guy more than the Simpsons.
I like Star Wars more than Lord of the Rings.
I dive an automatic instead of a standard shift.
I stay up really late instead of going to sleep at 9pm.
I bought Clementine oranges in one of those plastic mesh bags instead of in a crate.
I bought ice cream that didn’t come in a container that had a fully removable lid.
I don’t read the last chapter of a book first.
I get most of my books from the library instead of buying them.
I play video games on a PS2 instead of on a computer.
I’m an ass man instead of a tit man.
I liked Batman Begins more than the 1989 Michael Keaton Batman movie.
And my personal favorite…
I’m an idiot because, whether I’m at Burger King or McDonalds, I get both my hamburger and fries there instead of getting the hamburger from BK and then going to get the fries from McD’s. This situation is unique, in that I agree with him about liking McD’s fries more than BK’s, and liking BK’s burgers more than McD’s. But I’m not going to drive 5 miles out of my way to achieve this “ideal meal.”

So, it’s not that I don’t want to be around this guy because we have different opinions about things. It’s that I don’t want to be around this guy because everything is his way or no way and he tries to get people to defend their opinions and choices only to dismiss them with further opinions of his own.

Example:
Him: How can you like Star Wars more than Lord of the Rings?
Me: Because I was 7 when I first saw Star Wars and it was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen. It was so much a part of my childhood that, even now when I watch it, I feel just like I did when I saw it for the first time. When I watch it, I’m 7 years old again.
Him: But Lord of the Rings is cooler.
Me: In YOUR opinion.
Him: No, it’s cooler and that’s all there is too it.

And then, ohhhhhhhhhhhhh and then, because I’m such an idiot that I can’t see the obvious fact that LotR is “cooler”…then any of my opinions regarding movies are without merit.

Me: Y’know what was good? Little Miss Sunshine.
Him: Yeah? Well, you like Star Wars better than Lord of the Rings so you’ll understand why your recommendation doesn’t have much weight.

Whatever.

There’s just no way to have a conversation with someone like that. It’d be easy to get into an argument, but what’s the point? Nothing anyone says will change the other’s mind.

This post was hand-crafted especially for you by Kevin at 11:59 PM |