So true dad, so true. My whole life I have come across wave after wave of assholes and too be honest, they typically don't phase me at all anymore unless they are messing with friends or family. But sometimes and asshole will get under my skin and bug me to the core. This, by the way is the hardest part of the "asshole game" which is, you want to shut them down quickly & effectively but you don't want to become a bigger asshole than they are because then you lose. So, in my life I have adopted a method that has served me well, it is simple and effective.
I walk around like a lion. I understand this sounds a bit weird, but hear me out. How does a lion walk around? Does the lion care about what the gazelles and giraffes and other animals are thinking about them? No, Lions eat those animals so why would they care about what they think? They don't. They walk around proud and confident. They only get mean when they have to, but when they do...watch out because shit is about to hit the fan.
We all need to do this more in life, walk around confident in your ability and beliefs. Don't seek out confrontation, but don't run from it either...as my dad said "it doesn't mean you have to back down to an asshole". All of this sounds good and we can all agree that this is how it should be, but it's way easier said than done when it comes to putting this into practice right? My advice is to start small and remove your emotion completely from the confrontation before you act.
Here's a recent example that might help explain what I'm trying to say. I brought an issue to the attention of a teacher of a liberal arts course (Religions of the world) recently about a quiz online that was not clear in its directions. Specifically it said to pick THE answer that best answers each question. So, I selected the one answer for each of the questions that best answered each of the questions (I went as far as to double check each answer before I submitted my results). The test showed one question was wrong, so I went back and double checked and found my answer still to be correct.
At any rate, I clearly hit a nerve with him as he quickly fired off a nasty email back to me. Specifically he blamed me for not knowing to give multiple answers to some of the questions (even though this was not clear in the directions, so excuse me for following directions) and he went as far as to insult my intelligence as well as that I should take responsibility for my mistake.
BAM, he just pulled the Lions tail and now he was about to die. I instinctivley wanted to grab this "online tough guy" through the computer and smash him like I smashed the weight of my last snatch PR to the ground with extreme violent force, but instead I paused. The Lion in me stopped for a brief moment and assessed the best way to take it's prey down first; then I attacked. I wont go into detail, but rest assure I left him with no doubt that I will beat him at his own game on every level at anytime. I did this very professionally and without emotion of course, but the point is a kill is a kill is a kill.
So my friends, my advice is to walk like the Lion that lives inside you. Do not shrink from conflict with anyone or anything (just make sure you are in complete control when you initiate the kill). Accept the fact that there will be "assholes" around every corner, just like there are jackals in the Sahara Dessert. But jackals don't screw with the Lions for good reason, there lives depend on it. I think if we all spend a little more time "pushing back" when we need to and less time worrying about what everybody else might think, we'd all be better off for it.
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