Today I encountered what I considered to be the most illiterate woman on the face of the planet. Not to sound at all full of myself, but my enhanced vocabulary and extensive level of education clearly differentiate me from your average 19 year old kid. Generally, I try not to let people know I am more intelligent than them, even if it is true. I find myself "dumbing down" when some people speak to me, because I don't want to make them feel inadequate.
As I walked into the probation office with a friend, I sat in a seat on the far side of the room. Since I had gotten nearly no sleep the past few nights, I laid my head down on the table and closed my eyes-in hopes of getting a quick nap while we were waiting for the paperwork to be processed. Ha, guess not. The door swings open and a woman with an extremely deep voice calls some parolees name and looks up and notices my briefs are showing. (only because I'm crouched over trying to get a fucking nap..meaning my shirt was lifting up). She yells in a loud monotone "young man you need to pull your pants up." So, I look up directly into her eyes and pretend she isn't standing there. She repeats herself, but this time even louder. I replied "uh, I'm not on probation, so why are you speaking to me as if I need something from you." The only reason I did pull my pants up is because my mother asked me to do it for her.
The point is- don't make the assumption that everyone who you encounter is the same type of person you are used to associating with. Don't speak to me as if I am your subordinate, because chances are, I can match you intellectually. Mind your fucking business, and I'll mind mine.
It sucks that people associate you with a certain group of people because of the way you look, dress, or even talk before they actually know you. I bet she did not guess I have a 4.0 huh? I love when people think so low of me because of the people I surround myself with, or the clothes I wear, or the things I say... the look on their face when I reveal my secondary personality is priceless.
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Well written. You have a new follower; just from reading this one particular post, I can tell I'm going to love your blog. I feel the same exact way sometimes since moving to Orange County from LA. A lot of people think because of the way I speak, you know in that 'ghetto venacular' or 'ghetto accent' that I don't write as well and that I'm stupid. But it's a whole other story when I get the pen and paper. But yeah, I loved this!
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