Defeating the Me Monster

The Me Monster is from a bit by Brian Regan. He/she is the person who has to outdo your story with their own, when you try to defend your story, they come back with an even more fantastic one. Unfortunately I find myself in this battle once in a while and have to swallow my pride and refrain from becoming the Me Monster, although not always successfully. Enjoy the original clip below.

I believe that the Me Monster is inside all of us to some extent and it comes out in different ways. Some ways are very subtle by simply proclaiming that you are enjoying something that others are not, to very open displays, like telling everyone that you resent those around you who don’t have the same high standard as yourself. This is seen everywhere.

The moment you distinguish yourself as being more elite than another in any way, you step over the line and become the Me Monster. The moment you state that you hate McDonald’s after someone else stated how much they like it, you’ve become the Me Monster. The moment someone says they like clothes from Kohls and you say you can’t stand them, “Polo is the only way to go”, you’ve become the Me Monster. The moment someone states that they, “will never stay in a Motel 8, because of the low quality, Hilton is for me.”, you’ve become the Me Monster. Do you see a theme here? In most cases, money is the cause. The thing is, most people DO like nicer restaurants than McDonalds, like expensive name brand clothes, and like nicer living accommodations, but most people can’t afford it and the last thing anyone wants is having it rubbed in their faces. Day in and day out, I see this at the Law Firm I work.

Here is an example of an every day occurrence; I’m replacing the items with something similar in case you may know these people. Two secretaries and an attorney at the Law Firm where I work were talking amongst themselves. I was working on a printer nearby and overheard the conversation. One of the secretaries stated how she was going to put in a vinyl fence around her house, the other secretary then talked about some other type of fences that she liked. The attorney then joined in and said how he would only have a customized red stone fence/wall put in and that vinyl fences were just cheap and tacky. So there are three questions here. Did he purposely say this to put this person down? Or did he not pay attention at the beginning and not realize the first secretary stated that she was putting one in? Or did he simply not care and haphazardly said what was on his mind? You could see the hurt in her face, but she laughed anyway. She was subdued during the rest of the conversation and by that time I had left. I personally don’t think this attorney realized what he said, but I do believe he heard her say she was putting in the vinyl fence. I may be wrong, I don’t know, but I don’t think he would have been purposely vindictive like that, I think that’s how he is and was just stating what was on his mind… but that doesn’t make it OK. When you are no longer aware of other people’s feelings, I believe you are in deep trouble spiritually. The moment you DON’T realize how stating the better quality of living you enjoy can be hurtful to others, is the moment you need to reevaluate yourself. But if you don’t realize it, how do you know? Stop, think, really look deep down and search your memory if you’ve done anything like this. I know I have, maybe in not quite as blatant of a manner as the experience I stated above, but I know I have. I apologize to any of you who I’ve hurt in any manner like this, one in particular and you know who you are if you read this.

So how do you get rid of the Me Monster? I’m no expert, that’s for sure, but here are some points that will help. NEVER think you are better than someone else; no matter how they look, how much money they have, how they dress or where they eat. NEVER point out how you enjoy the life you live because of the things you can afford when you know the people that you are talking to can in no way afford what you have. Also, the “Never judge a book by its cover” quote is as valid today as it ever was.

I think I’ve made this blog sound like the wealthy are the only ones at fault, that’s not it at all. Pride is found within EVERYONE. I’ll end with my absolute favorite poem, that I’ve loved since I was a Sophomore in High School. It’s titled, “The Cold Within” by James Patrick Kinney.

Six humans trapped by happenstance
In black and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood,
Or so the story's told.

Their dying fire in need of logs,
The first woman held hers back
For on the faces around the fire
She noticed one was black.

The next man looking cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And couldn't bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.

The third one sat in tattered clothes
He gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?

The rich man just sat back and thought
Of the wealth he had in store.
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy poor.

The black man's face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.

And the last man of this forlorn group
Did naught except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave
Was how he played the game.

The logs held tight in death's still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn't die from the cold without,
They died from the cold within.

“Love thy neighbor as thyself” and pride will automatically slip away. I’ll step off my soapbox now. ;-)