Tea + Tanzania + Google = Clueless
Alert: Like most human beings, I have pet peeves. I am sure that on some occasion I have offended or stepped on the toes of one of your pet peeves in a glorious fiery blaze of inadequacy. If so, I apologize. The following is a mild rant on one of my pet peeves.
In case you have never experienced this, let me summarize for you: Everyone else around you knows better than you. This list includes any range of topics that vary in degree, from knowing what you should have for dinner to what real estate you should invest in. It is human nature to give your opinion to others, in a way that says “I have experience in this, let me share with you in the hopes that you might benefit from it.” This typically appreciated, particularly when one is clearly seeking advice on a topic they have little to no knowledge on and have sought the other person out to derive some wisdom or direction in their choices.
Sometimes, however, it is just... a little too much.
I would bet money you have been on the receiving end of a conversation that has gone loosely like this:
Henry: I was thinking about getting a new living room set to replace the couches I have.
Robert: Oh, I wouldn’t do that.
Henry: … why not? The couches are old.
Robert:Well I had a dog once. I got new furniture. That dog gnawed all the edges of the couch and the wooden legs to the point where it looked like a baby grizzly had mauled that sucker. I won’t get new furniture ever again.
Henry: I don’t have a dog.
Robert:But you might some day. And that’s why I wouldn’t rent apartments.
Henry: …. ?!
Robert: So we should totally go out for Chinese food for lunch. Not the place you’re thinking of though, my uncle’s brother’s horse worked there, and he died. We should check the new place out.
Henry: …. …. …. I brought in a sandwich.
Robert: I hope you refrigerated that sandwich, keeping sandwiches cool is the key to deliciousness, unless that sandwich is a meatball sub and should be served hot, with mozzarella. But not just any mozzarella, it need to be made from milk from free roam cows.
Henry: … -_-’
*brief pause*
Robert: Do you like roller derby?
…. And so on.
This is the kind of advice that nobody is looking for: unsolicited to the point of madness. Sometimes this advice is filled with poignant pauses, where the advice giver has used a term that clearly only someone knowledgeable in the current subject would know, and the advice giver waits for you to ask what in the name of insomnia they are talking about, so that they can explain with much glee what that word means “because you asked”. This kind of prompting statement irks the living daylight out of me.
Robert: I worked on my superfluffermakenblufferfuffer today.
*poignant pause*
*blank stares*
*pause continues*
Henry: ...
Robert: ...
Henry: …what is that?
Robert, with mild feather ruffling action: … Oh, well I thought you would know.... but that’s when the *long winded explanation*....
Henry: … o.O ….. o.o..... -.-
This has made me wonder, what is it about everyone else that makes them know everything? I know I don’t know everything.
I was venting at talking with my sister Rachel about this and describing how I, in fact, did not know everything because, for example, I definitely didn’t have any idea to the price of tea in Tanzania, and on a whim decided to remedy this by asking the great Google for the answer so that I might finally know everything about everything like the rest of the world and be less flawed.
But then, the unthinkable happened.
Google... failed me.
… However, I now know that the price of tea was supposed to go down in 2010... I just don’t know to how much.
Oh well. I’m sure someone will inform me.
... or at least wait for me to ask them.
In case you have never experienced this, let me summarize for you: Everyone else around you knows better than you. This list includes any range of topics that vary in degree, from knowing what you should have for dinner to what real estate you should invest in. It is human nature to give your opinion to others, in a way that says “I have experience in this, let me share with you in the hopes that you might benefit from it.” This typically appreciated, particularly when one is clearly seeking advice on a topic they have little to no knowledge on and have sought the other person out to derive some wisdom or direction in their choices.
Sometimes, however, it is just... a little too much.
I would bet money you have been on the receiving end of a conversation that has gone loosely like this:
Henry: I was thinking about getting a new living room set to replace the couches I have.
Robert: Oh, I wouldn’t do that.
Henry: … why not? The couches are old.
Robert:Well I had a dog once. I got new furniture. That dog gnawed all the edges of the couch and the wooden legs to the point where it looked like a baby grizzly had mauled that sucker. I won’t get new furniture ever again.
Henry: I don’t have a dog.
Robert:But you might some day. And that’s why I wouldn’t rent apartments.
Henry: …. ?!
Robert: So we should totally go out for Chinese food for lunch. Not the place you’re thinking of though, my uncle’s brother’s horse worked there, and he died. We should check the new place out.
Henry: …. …. …. I brought in a sandwich.
Robert: I hope you refrigerated that sandwich, keeping sandwiches cool is the key to deliciousness, unless that sandwich is a meatball sub and should be served hot, with mozzarella. But not just any mozzarella, it need to be made from milk from free roam cows.
Henry: … -_-’
*brief pause*
Robert: Do you like roller derby?
…. And so on.
This is the kind of advice that nobody is looking for: unsolicited to the point of madness. Sometimes this advice is filled with poignant pauses, where the advice giver has used a term that clearly only someone knowledgeable in the current subject would know, and the advice giver waits for you to ask what in the name of insomnia they are talking about, so that they can explain with much glee what that word means “because you asked”. This kind of prompting statement irks the living daylight out of me.
Robert: I worked on my superfluffermakenblufferfuffer today.
*poignant pause*
*blank stares*
*pause continues*
Henry: ...
Robert: ...
Henry: …what is that?
Robert, with mild feather ruffling action: … Oh, well I thought you would know.... but that’s when the *long winded explanation*....
Henry: … o.O ….. o.o..... -.-
This has made me wonder, what is it about everyone else that makes them know everything? I know I don’t know everything.
I was venting at talking with my sister Rachel about this and describing how I, in fact, did not know everything because, for example, I definitely didn’t have any idea to the price of tea in Tanzania, and on a whim decided to remedy this by asking the great Google for the answer so that I might finally know everything about everything like the rest of the world and be less flawed.
But then, the unthinkable happened.
Google... failed me.
… However, I now know that the price of tea was supposed to go down in 2010... I just don’t know to how much.
Oh well. I’m sure someone will inform me.
... or at least wait for me to ask them.