I hesitate to write about this topic because at first glance, it smacks of egotism. But a quick check of my self-esteem finds it dragging through the gutter, matted with sludge, just like always. No, it's not that I'm thinking any more of myself. I'm just thinking less of others.
Specifically, lifelong fuckups with obnoxiously high self-confidence.
Do you ever find yourself wanting to ask someone "Wait. Hold on. Based upon what expertise, upon what history of accomplishment, exactly, do you so confidently express an opinion? In fact, when have you ever been right? Have you ever succeeded? You can go back to childhood, if you'd like. Take your time."
I so want to ask this. Increasingly. Like more every day. I can feel my filter clogging from the debris of unremitting incompetence. I will certainly say this to someone before May is up. Alternately, I might say "I'm baffled. Can you help me understand how you've gotten to be your age without realizing that pretty much everyone is smarter than you?"
I'm not just being mean, though it's essentially that. I'm also legitimately baffled. Near as I can tell, serial losers instinctively surround themselves with an entourage of like or lesser losers. This allows them to decouple from the reality that they are demonstrably stupid. When your friend has never gotten his high school diploma, after all, he has to respect yours. In his world, you're a bona fide Nobel laureate.
The thing is, the rest of us exist on Earth. And on Earth, serial fuckups should shut the fuck up.