Cracked Mirror

I had a strange encounter recently with a person I have known for a long, long time.  I had not seen this person in quite some time and had not really sat down and talked to this person in any great depth for even longer.

The part that was strange was that, despite the years going by, he was still a know-it-all smart-ass.  Why is that strange you ask?  Because he neither knows all that much or is he fall into the category of extremely smart.  Oh, I am not saying he is stupid or unintelligent.  No.  It is just that he is a person of average intelligence that lives in a small community has a rather parochial exposure to matters in general and has a rather parochial outlook on life.

That is not a problem, nor should it be.  Where I have issue with him is that he is an expert, in his mind, about every darned thing in every darned conversation regardless of his actual knowledge of the subject.  On the occasions where I asks him for his facts, he would give remarks about he a) whatever the facts were it did not change his situation or belief, b) everyone’s facts could be different (sounds like a Trumpism), or c) did not have time to research the facts.

None of this kept him from expounding hour after hour on any and every subject, often dominating the conversation.  He was an expert on every subject that you cared to bring up.  I even brought up subjects that I know he could not know anything about and he had no problem expounding on them.

Why am I even talking about this?  Because it was somewhat of a look in a cracked mirror.  I have, because of Asperger’s, a tendency to over-explain and to expound on subjects.  This is especially true if it is something that I am passionate about.  The differences between me and this person I mentioned above are many.  Mainly though;

1. If I am expounding on it, I know what I am talking about – if I do not know about it, I do not talk about it
2. I will provide the facts for you and will show you where to get them
3. I know the difference between facts and opinion
4. I am not, nor do I profess to be, an expert on everything,
5. Most importantly, I listen and value other people’s opinions.

The problem is; in a chance encounter, a person may not be able to differentiate between me and someone like this.  Both seem to dominate the conversation. I try not to, but I cannot seem to help myself.  Because of this, I have asked my wife to do me a favor.  From now on, if I start on too much of a rant, I want her to mention this person’s name to me.  I WILL GET THE MESSAGE.