We're not so different, you and I.

A phrase people say to me fairly often is, "You think you're always right." It's generally made in an acusatory tone after the speaker and I have been discussing something at length. It refers to the fact that I like to argue. I enjoy a good discussion about a variety of topics and I'm not afraid to disagree with others, no matter how firmly held their beliefs may be. It's been a bit of a trend in this blog too. Don't act like you haven't noticed. And while there may be some validity to the phrase, "You think you're always right," I believe it's a bit of a misnomer. Let's break it down:

If you're referring to factual information, then it's not true at all. Obviously, if I've heard a fact and comitted it to memory, believing it to be true, then I think I'm right about it. That does not, however, mean I'm not willing to investigate to find out whether I'm correct or not and it doesn't mean that I'm not willing to admit it when I turn out to be incorrect. I'd like to think that times when I feel sure about something, when I'd say something to the affect of, "I'm pretty positive," I turn out to be right more times than not. I haven't done a longitudinal study or any such nonsense though, so I can't really claim to know the percentages. I certainly don't claim to know everything or even most things and I've definitely been mistaken on many occasions. Britney Spears was, in fact, born in Kentwood, contrary to my feelings otherwise. I know more than some people, but less than a lot of people. I feel that I'm reasonably intelligent, but I don't have any proof of that, so I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

So maybe the phrase refers to issues of opinion. And, if that's the case, I'd say that it's mostly true. Changing the syntax to, "You always think you're right," might give it a bit more truthiness, but that's probably just splitting hairs. We'll work with the assumption that, "You think you're always right," is true when it comes to my opinion. And I ask, so what? Isn't that the case for everyone? If I didn't believe that my opinion was right, then it wouldn't be my opinion. If I didn't think I was correct in liking and respecting Fight Club, then I couldn't really like or respect Fight Club. If I didn't believe that Thrice had talent and wrote good songs, then I wouldn't listen to them or list them as one of my favorites. Truth is, everybody thinks their opinion is right. That's part of the definition.

I guess the problem comes in with the fact that I tend to vigorously defend my opinion. Unless it's something like, "asparagus is gross," I'll produce facts to support myself and logically argue as to why my opinion is the correct one. And it's fun. I enjoy it. I rarely get upset or frustrated. I'd say it's one of my favorite pastimes. I don't see how it makes me arrogant or mean.

The other thing that gets me in trouble is the fact that I tend to mock the opinions of others. But it's all in good fun. I swear. I don't honestly care that Bryan watches "Stargate" and loves "Resident Evil." It doesn't bother me that Maggie went to see Rascal Flats (even though their singer kinda' sounds like a girl). It's just good natured ribbing and, beyond my sister, I don't think I hurt many feelings.

Sure I'm "right," but everybody is in their own head.

I guess what I'm getting at is this:
I'm smarter than you in every way and all the music, books, movies and TV shows you like are crappy. I'm just a better person. Completely.

The end.

stuff on my mind

I was standing next to one of our new employees as he was ringing up a sale yesterday and cleared my throat. He looked at me and said, "I gotcha" and preceeded to sell an extended warranty on the product. That was good of course, but I actually just had congestion in my throat. It's funny to me that throat clearing has become so synonymous with trying to get a point across that you can't just clear your throat because it needs to be cleared anymore.

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I bought the new Dead Poetic cd the other day and, after one listen, it seems to be pretty good. Thing is, it's a big change in sound. They've gone from what most people refer to as "screamo" to a much more mainstream rock feel without a lot of screaming or punkish guitar riffs. That seems to be a bit of a trend right now. A lot of bands that had been lumped into the screamo category have since released albums that varied a great deal from their previous sound. Finch and The Used, two of the first screamo bands to get mainstream airplay released follow-ups that sounded quite a bit different than their debut albums. Story of the Year's second album had an 80's Bon Jovi feel to it. Thrice went with a more textured, varied sound on their latest and Thursday seems to be evolving slowly as a band rather than changing overnight, but their new disc only features one song with any real screaming. It seems that all the screamo vets are abandoning the sound and moving into other territories. The part of me that enjoys several of these bands would like to think that they're simply growing up and naturally changing as good bands tend to. The cynical side of me, however, wonders if it has more to do with record label execs telling the various bands that screamo is on the way out and they'd better get off the bandwagon while they still can. It reminds me a bit of the late 90's/early 2000's when rap-rockers like P.O.D. and Papa Roach, sensing that trends were changing, suddenly started singing. Of course, Papa Roach is still around while Limp Bizkit, who stuck to the rap-metal (when they aren't doing Who covers) sold about 25 copies of their last album. We'll see how things go for the current crop of hitmakers.

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I've been to a couple of parties thrown by fellow Christians lately and both of them featured, along with other snacks and drinks, alcohol spiked punch. And I don't see anything wrong with that at all. While I don't think it's right for a Christian to get drunk, I don't think there's anything in the Bible that prohibits a follower of Christ from having a glass of wine with dinner, champagne at a wedding, or a couple of cups of "adult punch" at a party. The thing is, at the second party especially, everyone seemed to be really excited about it. It's something I've noticed quite a bit. A lot of Christiasns, while they don't ever get trashed, are really, really into drinking and that seems weird to me. I mean, if you're not getting drunk, then it's just another beverage, right? I like Dr. Pepper a lot, but I've never spent an entire night standing around a two-liter of it or drinking it out of special glasses and trying out all sorts of different concoctions. It's almost like they get some sort of thrill out of it, like they feel more adult or are revelling in the fact that they're not legalistic. Or maybe people just like the taste. And maybe I'd understand if I ever drank. Maybe I'd be just like everybody else. I'm certainly not claming to be better than anyone or looking down on those that choose to drink. I guess I just don't get it.