I Felt Bad, Really

I was at an MCA meeting recently when one of the members really got on my nerve. It was ten-minutes into the meeting when the door to the room creakily opened and in walked an overweight dude with terribly unfashionable glasses. With pale, white skin that looked like it has spent the better part of the past decade indoors, I straight away deduced that his profession was either an engineer or an undertaker (later on I discovered that he is an engineer...bingo!).

As he approached our table, I did what any normal, mature adult would do. I introduced myself and reached out to shake his hand, causing the layers of blubber on his under-arm to wiggle and jiggle threateningly.

"Hi, my name is Bernard. Nice to meet you"

Normal right?

The fatso didn't say anything in return. No "My name is bla bla bla", or "Nice to meet you too" or "Gee...my arm is helluva fat".

Zip, Nadda.

He just shook my hand, sat down, and proceeded to chat with the people beside him. I was amazed. Apparently, I've stumbled across a rare breed of Stupidofilus Dunggulsapien. Scientist once thought that this breed was extinct due to the proliferation of great institutions of learning such as schools, colleges, universities and Google. All of which serve to wipe out stupidity from the human race.

I guess they were wrong.

Strike One.

The second annoying thing he did was to shoot down one of my suggestions in the midst of our discussion. Now don't get me wrong, I do not think that I am right all the time (I am right MOST of the time, but 'most' of the time is not the same as 'all' the time geddit). I can accept it if someone disagrees with me, but what I cannot stand is when a person disagrees but cannot sufficiently substantiate why.

Honestly, if you think my idea is not doable, then for goodness sake provide us with a better alternative. Don't just say "I disagree" and begin mumbling something vague and incoherent about setting objectives, focusing our efforts and achieving our goals when pressed to provide an alternative.

Strike Two.

I know in baseball three strikes make an out, but two strikes is more than I can tahan.

I didn't lose my cool however. I just sat back, smiled and let him go on with his explanation... before proceeding to rip every single one of his suggestion to shreds with a healthy dose of sarcasm and criticism. I didn't criticize just for the sake of it though, it was just that what he was suggesting was really very vague and silly.

This went on for quite awhile, with him struggling to futilely defend his suggestions and ego, before he finally gave up and proceeded to sit there glowering in silence.

I should have felt victorious. I should have been bursting with glee at having silenced him. But I didn't feel any of that.

Instead, I felt really, really bad.

It suddenly dawned upon me that I had let my conceit take over. What kind of person did I become in those few brief minutes? How could I take delight in tearing somebody down?

As a Christian I should always be compassionate and understanding towards my fellow man. Although it may be difficult at times, I should at least try my very best and not succumb to the 'easy way out'.

Feeling remorseful, I tried to make up for it during the rest of the discussion but I am afraid the damage may have already been done. What the Bible said is true, be slow to anger, and be quick to control your tongue.

It's a lesson I would do well to learn.

I hope he forgives me.