Gladly not

I will shamelessly admit that I do not suffer fools gladly.  And to wit, I think that is my current problem.  Surrounded by fools, the Dunning Kruger effect in slow motion, I am besieged by assholes who consider themselves my intellectual peers, although they are ill-read, if read at all, an besotted by the thought that they know as much as a expert or an educated person because what's a democracy for if not that all opinions are equal.  Except, as we know from experience, opinions are like assholes for various and sundry reasons.  I don't buy into the argument that in a democracy everyone gets a trophy for merely showing up.  No, I put my faith in people of intellect; after all I am an effete intellectual snob, listening as I am to  Beethoven's violin concerto, knowing that I know how to spell Beethoven correctly and know that this piece of music is played allegro ma non troppo (and what that means).  So, yes, Orwell was right: All animals are created equal but some are more equal than others.

And so I rant on.

I am expert at my work.  I know my stuff and it takes a great deal of intellect to perform at my level.  I don't say that smugly.  I am damn good at what I do, quality control for a large database; expertise in metadata and know what all that means and entails.  A high school diploma ain't gonna cut it here.  I had an acquaintance at the library who with a questionable high school diploma, was given a position she was not intellectually suited for.  She relied on me to fix her mistakes, which were numerous, and, in fact, at one point told me that was my job...to fix what she did not understand.  And she did not have the intellect to know that she needed help in the form of additional training.  She would not ask her supervisor for help with additional training (and I suspect that alone would not have made a difference).  The only stupid questions are the ones you don't ask. Like I said I am a snob.  She used to "do" crossword puzzles at work but did them the following day so she could copy the correct answers from that day's paper.  It is to laugh if it weren't so bad. There is not much point in an intellectual exercise if you are going to at least make an attempt.

More to come.