Stupid People

Two weeks ago I got the idea to try and overlook the countless idiots and stupid people I seem to meet on a daily basis. Well, I tried and that failed. While I do not start out being mean or nasty to people (at least before I meet them) I will no longer back-down if they start it. Of course like anything you need to "pick your battles" and while I won't back-down in a challenge I will continue to gauge the intensity of how I deal with idiots and adjust it accordingly.

I should say that I spent 4 summers working at an overnight camp for the mentally and physically disabled and have found them to be some of the smartest and nicest people I have ever met. The stupid people I am referring to here have no medical issue as to why they are idiots - they just are.

Not all situations are life-threatening and here's where the "picking your battles" comes into play. There are those people I have personally dealt with in the medical field and at public institutions that believe they have complete authority and final say over you. Those are the people I will continuously be on guard for and stand up to. In the case of the medical field it can be (and has been in the past) a case of either life or death or quality of life issue. In the case of public institutions it can be (and again has been in the past) a case of discrimination. Both of these are very important and should never be allowed.

There are those people who believe you should have a "positive attitude" and treat everyone nicely and good things will come out of that. While I respect their beliefs and hope it works for them I have found the opposite to be true for me. I have found that when I am ready for a fight (not physically, but mentally) then things usually turn out ok. It is when I go in to a place (especially one I have dealt with before) thinking that nothing bad will happen and it does. That may seem strange for some people, but I have found it to be true - in my case - and have tried it throughout the world.

I am not saying that I don't sometimes over-react to things because I know I do and have. Sometimes a situation or person just gets on my last nerve and I lash verbally out. In those cases I usually think about what happened afterwards and see my mistakes and what I should have done. Sometimes I even ask others how they thought I handled the situation and hear what they say - whether I agree with their assessment or not.

One thing that really gets me is dealing with a hypocrite. Those people tend to be the "holier than thous" that say one thing and do something else - hence the term hypocrite. I know who I am and do not sugar-coat it. People may like me or not, but in the end I usually do as I say and I say as I do. With me you get what you see unlike the many others that bounce all over the place.

In the end there will always be stupid people in the world. By acknowledging that fact people can decide how they want to deal with them. I have acknowledged that fact and, as you can see from above, am working to horn my skills when dealing with them.