Saturday, January 24, 2009

21st Century Bragging


People who brag annoy me. I'm not sure what's more irritating:
1. A lecture on how special they are.
2.The fact that they think I'll be impressed by this.

Recently I've noticed a new form of bragging that makes typical braggers seem as modest as dust. This species doesn't brag about how wonderful he is. He brags about how wonderful he plans to be!
You've probably heard from him. He's the guy who still lives with his parents who brags about how much money he'll earn in the future. He's the out of shape slug who tells people how much weight he's going to lose. He (sometimes she) is the hack who won't shut up about the bestselling book (or blockbuster movie) he'll write someday.
I don't have a problem with someone stating that they'd like to accomplish something. It's the person who acts as if stating their plan is as impressive as accomplishing it.
And since he (or she) has announced their plan, they think this gives them the right to criticize others who have accomplished something. For example, the "I'm going to write bestselling fiction" is quick to tell you how his yet-to-be-started novel will be way better than the "crap" that's selling now. He'll tell you why too. Yes sir, he's so smart that he doesn't need to write to be an expert on writing. Are you impressed yet?

3 comments:

Linda Davick said...

Namo, sounds as if you've been TRAPPED lately. What do you do when you're in this situation?

Wild drawing!

Anonymous said...

I had a date with a guy like this once: he was unemployed but thought I should be impressed with his ideas. Kind of sad, probably, but I never went out with him again.

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Thanks, Linda,
Not sure why I run into these shmendriks. Too bad there's not a polite way to say "Wait until you've actually accomplished X before you start boasting about it."

Hi Stray,
The "I'm gonna do something great (but I haven't really started)" speech is a staple of bad dates. It's like a bad sales pitch. And it is kind of sad.