So, I'm at an event the other day and the speaker is dropping all of these trite little "life" slogans.
"If you lay the 'O' that begins 'opinion' on its side, it creates a hole for you to fall through." - This was my favorite, carefully punctuating his solipsistic diatribe about how he's acquired a "pocket full of them."
"Not very many people know the difference between the words, 'illiteracy' and 'illiterate.'" - This is among his more vexing.
It's so bad that I started coming up with ridiculous clichés of my own. "I always wake up in the morning but I never wake down." They are uttered with this almost grandiose pomposity, as though they are tied to some intrinsic, arcane wisdom which confers legitimacy on them. What is worse is that his audience seemed to be hanging on every word as though they were some sort of novelty.
How do you handle people like this? The last time someone used such a cliché in a conversation with me I made them cry without even meaning to hurt his feelings. He stopped talking, began breathing through his mouth, and his cheeks became rose red. For the rest of our time together, he just sat there, looking befuddled and forlorn with a thousand-yard-stare.
OrangestO
You must not like Forrest Gump, huh?
EddieZilker
Actually, I really don't much care for Forrest Gump.
You can lead a horse to TranceAddict, but you can't make it post.
:conf:
EgosXII
:haha: at making someone cry. I did that in a philosophy class once in first year, though it was a woman who was basically screaming at me by the end of the class (and crying). Obviously hit a nerve... :p
I agree with the overall point; there's nothing to do but walk away though really. People are idiots. Most people spend no time thinking about anything except food and sex, and no time introspecting (not sure it can be used like this :S), and so anyone who mutters anything that sounds vaguely "deep" comes across to them as intelligent, and worth gaping over. This is why its so easy to appear smart to the general public, all you have to do is say pointless things in an unusual fashion; add some hyperbole for extra points, and hey presto; you're a poet.
I don't have a problem with the occasional idiom tacked on for the sake of clarity. It's the people who seem to have one for every dilemma faced or who use it to cinch up their personal philosophies in three-seconds flat that I really can't stand.
EddieZilker
quote:
Originally posted by EgosXII
:haha: at making someone cry. I did that in a philosophy class once in first year, though it was a woman who was basically screaming at me by the end of the class (and crying). Obviously hit a nerve... :p
I agree with the overall point; there's nothing to do but walk away though really. People are idiots. Most people spend no time thinking about anything except food and sex, and no time introspecting (not sure it can be used like this :S), and so anyone who mutters anything that sounds vaguely "deep" comes across to them as intelligent, and worth gaping over. This is why its so easy to appear smart to the general public, all you have to do is say pointless things in an unusual fashion; add some hyperbole for extra points, and hey presto; you're a poet.
Walking away isn't exactly an option at this point and it might be something that I have to put up with for a while. I may wind up bailing on it, anyway, because I'm already having serious issues with this guy's personality style. If it were just a social acquaintance or event I'd find myself well away from him. Unfortunately, it's a connection I have to take my time severing.
pkcRAISTLIN
Yeah I ing hate people like that and their try-hard ster slogans.
EddieZilker
quote:
Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
Yeah I ing hate people like that and their try-hard ster slogans.
You'd love this guy, the moment you met him. He's a martial arts expert and all about his eclectic hodgepodge of Buddhists and Native-American beliefs. The Ancients of Folderol and the Mystics from beyond the shroud of Gōngniú Fènbiàn course through his every breath. He is the truth and the light.
ChemEnhanced
quote:
Originally posted by kadomony
You can lead a unicorn to TranceAddict, but you can't make it piss rainbows.
