The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: arrogance

  • Can You Explore without Exploiting or Extinguishing?

    Things could have been different.

  • On Being a Frustrated Secular Evangelical

    I have the solution for all your biggest problems!

  • Be Proud

    I think pride is one of the most complex emotions that we humans experience. In the English language, we categorize way too many distinct feelings under the umbrella of pride. That can be problematic, because in some instances pride is a type of satisfaction that is important and positive, and in others it’s arrogance, which…

  • Don’t Fence Me In

    I had been shopping at this grocery store for decades with no complaints. Then one day at the check-out line, the bag boy started walking with me to my car. I glanced down at my two bags and said, “Never mind, I can handle it.” He looked mortified. He said it was now policy that…

  • Teen Confidence

    I was in the DVD section of the library the other day and I heard two teenagers talking. The girl was saying to the boy in an authoritative tone, “No, you can’t check out that movie. It has too much gratuitous violence.” The boy, who was obviously trying to make an impression, said, “You’re right.…

  • Cop-ophobia

    Growing up, I was taught that policemen were your friends. If you got lost, find the nearest police officer. He would help you. As law-abiding as I always have been, I assumed that all cops were Officer Friendly, and I maintained that view until I was 18 years old. So imagine my shock as an…

  • Ending Sentences with Prepositions

    Time and time and time again I have seen people who want very much to be perceived as grammatically superior harp on the fact that someone has ended a sentence with a preposition. Even spell check does it. The very sad thing about this behavior is that in fact there’s nothing wrong with doing so…

  • Ph. Deities

    Recently I had a consult with a specialist about a bump that occurred on the roof of my mouth. The minute this doctor walked in I could tell he was going to be “one of those”. The arrogance came off him like a stink. Sure enough, he was obnoxious and had absolutely no communication skills.…

  • “End of Discussion”

    More than one man in my life has said that to me, and it always works. For a split second. Because I’m rendered speechless by the arrogance, the gall, the unbelievable nerve that it takes to even conceive of that sentence, let alone utter it out loud. It seems to be part of the collective…