Stupid people. Most people would agree that they exist, and that they are everywhere. If you deal with customer service in any way, you know this is true. You’ve heard the old saying, “The customer is always right”? Obviously, whoever coined that phrase never dealt with customers…or at least, not in modern times. However, real stupidity goes beyond mere customers. There are, of course, different types of stupidity. Or are there? Some would say that there are people who were born stupid. If they are referring to those born with mental disorders, they are, of course, being ignorant (which is not to be confused with being stupid). Also, someone who has a learning disability, like dyslexia, is not stupid. They may even think that they are, but they are wrong, and should be told so as much as possible. I am going to go out on the limb here. I do not think there are any stupid people in the world. Now, hear me out. Before you stage a riot, just bear with me. I propose that there are people who act, or are temporarily being, stupid. Let me start with an example. I was at work. A woman came in to the store with her son. I do not know the name of the mother or her son. Let’s call him “Sam”. While his mother was conducting her business, Sam was dancing around, acting like a fool. Note that I said acting. As I stated before, I did not know Sam. All I knew of him was that he was a teenager who was dancing around my store…badly, I might add. As far as know, Sam is a straight “A” student. It was nighttime, so maybe he just had a lot of energy to get out of his system. Or maybe it was because he is a teenager. I do not know the answer. I do know that he was acting stupid. See what I mean? Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I do stupid things. Sometimes I do so to entertain and/or confound those around me. I am hesitant to do this, but for the sake of fairness, I will give an example. If someone calls me “weird” – mainly because I just did or, more likely, said something weird – I will say, “Oh, yeah? Well, you’re spleird.” “Spleird” is, to my knowledge, not an actual word. In fact, I would go so far as say it’s a nonsense word, like “jabberwocky”. Basically, it is just me being stupid, and also proving that yes, I am weird. Now for another example. Sometimes, when I chew gum, I will accidentally bite my lip. That is not stupid in and of itself, although some might disagree with me. What is stupid, however, is the fact that I will keep chewing that same piece of gum, instead of being fed up and throwing it away. No, instead I keep chewing the same piece of gum, and will, yes, bite my lip again. Once, not too very long ago, I bit my lip three or four times before I finally threw the gum away. Ah, but the stupidity does not stop there, my friends! It took several more bites of the lip while chewing gum before I finally gave it up…at least, for now. I blame the lip bites on stress, so maybe when things calm down, I will start up again. Time will tell whether it is stress or stupidity. I hope you see my point. Stupidity can happen to the best of us. Let me give two more short examples before I close. I used to work at a video store. If you know me, you also know that it was, at least at the time, the perfect job for me, EXCEPT for the “stupid” customers. To be more accurate, however, it was really the stupid questions I could not stand. Two stand on my mind. ONE: The movie Independence Day had just come out in theatres. The very next day at work, some guy opened the door, leaned in, and asked, “Hey, do you have Independence Day yet?” I am being dead serious. I just looked at him for about five seconds, and informed him that it had only come out in theatres the day before. He just said “Okay” and left. TWO: Another guy (is there a pattern here?) came in and asked if where the movie Dumb and Dumber was located. He also the five-second stare, and was told that it is located in the Comedy section. As far as I know, neither of those men were actually unintelligent. What they were doing, in all actuality, was being stupid. To be more specific, they were not paying attention to what they were saying. That is what real stupidity is, my friends: not paying attention to what one is saying or doing, or – and this one is probably the most important of all - not listening to what others are saying. There you have it. While some people may be more educated, or just overall more learned, than others, everyone – and I mean ¬everyone (you included) – does or says stupid things. So, what is the answer, you ask? Simple: PAY ATTENTION!!
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