VanityMy Big Head
As the story goes, I was dropped at the moment of my birth. The truth of the matter is that I apparently slipped through the fumbling hands of an obstetrician who got his medical degree in a USA college on a football scholarship. The good doctor presumably never made it to pro football. I guess you can understand why.
One variation of the plot has me bouncing on my head, and rebounding into the starch white apron of a matronly nurse, another former athlete, who once played first base for the Selkirk Sweethearts, a women's softball team of some distinction during the war years.
A second variation has me flipping from crown to toe and landing steadfastly on one foot, in some kind of complicated karate pose, much like the Crane technique that Ralph Macchio perfected in The Karate Kid.
Whatever the case might have been, I was definitely dropped. I know this to be a fact because I have a notation on my Dollar Barn Offshore Birth Certificate to prove it.
I offer this nugget of my past simply because someone told me the other day that I have a big head. Being fully dressed at the time of our conversation, I can only assume that person meant the one perched on top of my shoulders.
What I am not sure about is whether the person meant that I have a big head in a literal sense, or if she meant I have a big head in the sense that I am a pompous bastard.
You see, in the literal sense, I do have a big head — size 75/8. However, it may be equally true that I am somewhat, how shall I put it ... uh ... overly self-confident. OK, let's not mince words, there are times when I can be full of myself, even when I'm trying my damnedest to be humble.
I value humility, especially in others. I think, however, that everyone should have a certain amount of arrogance. An positive, even somewhat inflated, self-identity isn't all that bad. In fact, feeling important about oneself is almost a basic human right. I mean, who goes around telling everyone else that, "You're so much more important than me."
Vanity is said to be one of the seven deadly sins, but that kind of vanity must be an all-encompassing obsession with oneself. The everyday, garden variety form of vanity makes us proud of who we are, of what we do, of what we accomplish in life. Without it, people would just be sitting around in baggy, old sweat pants, drinking beery beverages, and eating sweet 'n' salty snacks until they pass out in front of the television. Ooops ... hope I didn't touch a nerve there.
As the story goes, I was dropped at the moment of my birth. The truth of the matter is that I apparently slipped through the fumbling hands of an obstetrician who got his medical degree in a USA college on a football scholarship. The good doctor presumably never made it to pro football. I guess you can understand why.
One variation of the plot has me bouncing on my head, and rebounding into the starch white apron of a matronly nurse, another former athlete, who once played first base for the Selkirk Sweethearts, a women's softball team of some distinction during the war years.
 The Crane Technique |
A second variation has me flipping from crown to toe and landing steadfastly on one foot, in some kind of complicated karate pose, much like the Crane technique that Ralph Macchio perfected in The Karate Kid.
Whatever the case might have been, I was definitely dropped. I know this to be a fact because I have a notation on my Dollar Barn Offshore Birth Certificate to prove it.
I offer this nugget of my past simply because someone told me the other day that I have a big head. Being fully dressed at the time of our conversation, I can only assume that person meant the one perched on top of my shoulders.
What I am not sure about is whether the person meant that I have a big head in a literal sense, or if she meant I have a big head in the sense that I am a pompous bastard.
You see, in the literal sense, I do have a big head — size 75/8. However, it may be equally true that I am somewhat, how shall I put it ... uh ... overly self-confident. OK, let's not mince words, there are times when I can be full of myself, even when I'm trying my damnedest to be humble.
I value humility, especially in others. I think, however, that everyone should have a certain amount of arrogance. An positive, even somewhat inflated, self-identity isn't all that bad. In fact, feeling important about oneself is almost a basic human right. I mean, who goes around telling everyone else that, "You're so much more important than me."
Vanity is said to be one of the seven deadly sins, but that kind of vanity must be an all-encompassing obsession with oneself. The everyday, garden variety form of vanity makes us proud of who we are, of what we do, of what we accomplish in life. Without it, people would just be sitting around in baggy, old sweat pants, drinking beery beverages, and eating sweet 'n' salty snacks until they pass out in front of the television. Ooops ... hope I didn't touch a nerve there.
one person's idea of arrogance may be the confidence that turns someone else on...
ReplyDeleteHaha ... yes, some people like an alpha-type person ... ;o}
DeleteIt's good to see positive self esteem. Gm :)
ReplyDeleteGM ... positive self-esteem is always very important ... otherwise, you become a moaner and groaner ...
DeleteI like your brand of "arrogance" :-)
ReplyDeleteHaha ... well, you should see me in person ... worse than ever ...
DeleteBut, really, I try to be respectful and humble most of the time.
True, you could be a real jerk in person. But somehow I don't think so, just judging by the things you write, which is all I really know of you.....just a feeling I have :-)
DeleteWithout it, people would just be sitting around in baggy, old sweat pants, drinking beery beverages, and eating sweet 'n' salty snacks until they pass out in front of the television.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware that you knew my old lady, KJ.
All seriousness aside, I've always made a distinction between arrogance and pride in one's accomplishments, for instance, or pride in taking reasonable measures as to one's appearance in public, so as not to frighten little children needlessly.
~M
"pride in taking reasonable measures as to one's appearance in public, so as not to frighten little children needlessly."
DeleteHaha ... yes that seems like appropriate behaviour ...