The One-Upper

Don't you hate having a conversation with that person who ALWAYS finds a way to one-up you? I'm gonna try to keep this brief as this is a topic I honestly think I could discuss for hours. As I sit here trying to think of specific examples of this type of person, my brain is filled with so many that it's difficult to process them all. If you can't think of a one-upper in your life (which is highly doubtful) or don't know what one is, let me explain; the one-upper is always better than you. Your house has 3 bedrooms and his has 4. You know someone who won $1,000 on the lottery and he knows someone who won $10,000. You scored a 90 on your psychology test and he scored a 95. No matter what you say, he says something bigger and better. The first thing that bothers me about this person is that he thinks he is the coolest thing since sliced bread when in reality he's not. No one is. He somehow feels better about himself by indirectly putting other people down. I honestly don't believe if he is trying to hurt the other person or if he somehow justifies his actions as building himself up. In reality, I think most people who are intelligent and independent enough to think for themselves realize what the one-upper is doing and either don't believe what he says in that specific instant and/or discredits this person as a legitimate source in general. There are at least a few one-uppers I can think of off the top of my head and I take almost everything they say with a grain of salt. Fortunately I wouldn't consider most of my closest friends one-uppers so I'm not surrounded by this type of person too often. The times I am however, I have little patience for it. Usually I'll be in a social setting and a friend of a friend or a generic friend will be the one-upper. As tempted as I am to call him out on it, that would mean that my discrediting of him would be just as immature and disrespectful as his initial put down. As Ghandi said, "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind" so that is no solution to the problem. My solution is usually to try and change the subject or just walk away from the conversation. I have better things to do than sit there and listen to how he knows more about agriculture than us "city folk" just because he grew up with a few animals and vegetables in his backyard. Another specific example I'm thinking of is my friend who thinks he is enormous. All he ever talks about is how big he is. Don't get me wrong, he's bigger than the average Joe but he's no Andre the Giant. Get over it, you're bigger than the average man. If that's the best thing you have going for you then you should pursue a career in the NFL or NBA because the last time I checked there are no size expectations for doctors, lawyers, or most careers that people pursue. One of the other things that bothers me about the one-upper is the fact that rarely do you meet someone who is better than you at every single thing you both do. In fact, I will go as far to say as it's almost not possible. No one is ever the best at everything. With that being said, the one-upper is usually lying about at least one thing. Taking all of these things into account, I wonder how the one-upper expects us to take him seriously. Like I said before, I take each one-upper statement with a grain of salt and I encourage each of you to do so also. When encountering the one-upper in the future, try your best to remain patient and realize that there are others who agree that he is a bullsh*t salesman with a mouth full of samples.

Until next time,

Zac