Here's something I've always wondered.... Why do sad, pathetic, petty little people actually think I could possibly care about them, what they do, and what they say about me? I've never really understood this concept, but it has long intrigued me. I can see how such pettiness might affect others who are not me, but if my ego is even half as big as people who have taken the energy to dislike me seem to think, then why would they also choose to think that anything that originates from their small minds would be more than a mere momentary trifle to me. That they might just be stupid is far too simple an explanation to suit my needs. There has to be something more compelling. In my childhood, I took a lot of what could be construed as abuse by small-minded people, and I had a great deal of difficulty in trying to understand why. There was quite a bit of shock and disbelief on my part as to why they were treating me that way, because I was simply unable to grasp the nature of pettiness. When I finally realized what their problems were, my reaction was primarily one of utter disgust, and thus I began to write those people off as being unworthy of my time or attention. Since then, I've never really been able to muster enough of whatever it takes to be bothered all that much by people of little or no consequence. If I do become upset over the situation, it is merely due to the realization that I have wasted my time on that person... precious time which could have been better allocated to academic or artistic pursuits... or even Quake. They simply don't merit any semblance of emotional distress on my part, especially after they prove to me that they were undeserving of my grace in the first place. I must admit, however, that they are often amusing. Then again, so is watching monkeys at the zoo. I suppose I don't see much of a difference, except that the humans are supposed to be of a higher intelligence, so they don't actually have much of an excuse. Then again, an intelligence which is not exerted is an intelligence which doesn't exist, so they might as well be monkeys. *sigh*   Well, at least most of them aren't throwing feces. ...yet.