Over the course of my adult life, I have come to believe that among the worst possible personality traits are arrogance and inflated egos. These two self-indulgent character “disorders” are closely related and often go hand-in-hand. From the lips of those inflicted, much too often will come the words “I’ and “me.” These puffed-up purveyors can’t wait to spout tales of their superiority and over-blown accomplishments. We’ve all had experience with these folks, and unfortunately many of us have even had the misfortune of having one as our boss. It makes for an excruciatingly long work day. Dealing with a supercilious, self-righteous or narcissistic supervisor or manager can grate on the nerves. My first instinct when chatting with someone exhibiting a bloated ego is to respond with sarcasm. This can be risky, especially if the self-absorbed phony signs your paycheck. However, I still feel compelled to expose their pomposity and pretentiousness by attempting to deflate their bloated ego.
Of course, the flip side of arrogance and egotism is humility, a far superior admirable quality. If there were a sliding scale using humility to arrogance, on one end would be Mother Teresa and the other Donald Trump. And from which professions do many of these scoundrels materialize, you ask? Actors, singers, politicians and sports figures is my reply. I am constantly astounded when accomplished athletes feel compelled to bombastically inform us just how skilled they are at their particular sport. Hey dude, we get it. We watch and know you are fantastic at what you do. But please don’t throw it in our face every time you are mugging in front of a camera, because it’s asinine, stale and downright obnoxious! Really, shut up…NOW! Also, Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood, just because you have an Academy Award or a Golden Globe does not make you an expert on world hunger, global warming or healthy diets. Your entire career is based on pretending to be someone you are not. You make megabucks being a phony, so don’t lecture me on endangered species or economics, and I won’t audition for the lead role in your next tinsel town flop, okay! I’ll get my scientific facts from scientists and if I need someone to play Benjamin Franklin I’ll give you a call. As for you politicians, quit appearing so pompous and superior every time you lie to us on television. We all know you are full of crap! You are fooling no one! Wow, that felt fantastic.
Obviously, we are apt to confront these loathsome citizens in all walks of life. It is truly exhausting and depressing when dealing with these bores, especially if they happen to be your superior. If snide comments are out of the question and spilling extremely hot coffee on their lap would send you to the unemployment line, the only remaining distasteful options are to just tell them what they want to hear or silently nod your head and smile. And good luck if you married one!
On the subject of arrogance and egotism I will leave you with a limerick, a quote and a joke.
An arrogant fellow named Kirk
Thought each of his rivals a jerk.
When he vied for promotion,
He caused a commotion.
Now arrogant Kirk’s out of work.
“Be proud but not arrogant. You may be powerful today, but remember time is most powerful. A tree makes many match sticks, but it is one match stick that burns millions of trees.”
“A minister, a boy scout and a computer executive were flying to a meeting in a small private plane. About halfway to their destination, the pilot came back and announced that the plane was going to crash and there were only three parachutes and four people.”
The pilot said, “I am going to use one of the parachutes because I have a wife and four small children,” and he jumped.
The computer executive said, “I should have one of the parachutes because I am the smartest man in the world and my company needs me,” and he jumped.
The minister turned to the Boy Scout and smiling sadly said, “You are young and I have lived a good, long life, so you take the last parachute and I’ll go down with the plane.”
The Boy Scout said, “Relax, Reverend, the smartest man in the world just strapped on my backpack and jumped out of the plane!”
