Show Offs!

I hate when people show off. Not only is it rude, it points to the shallowness and insecurity of those doing the bragging. I got my quarterly high school magazine the other day, and sure enough, two such glory hounds had to tell us of their latest accomplishments.

Jamy Wheless was a year behind me and a hack artist at best. A couple of lucky breaks, a chance opportunity to wash George Lucas' car, and bam! he takes his talent for stick figures, and a Cray computer and becomes the lead animator for Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge of the Sith, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, and The Chronicles of Narnia, among others. I bet the dude roams around Hollywood wearing an ascot.

Then there's Bill Dedman. Bill recently joined MSNBC. Somewhere along the way he found a Pulitzer Prize laying around and claimed it for his own. I bet he hangs out in bars with Keith Olberman trying to pick up wonkettes using words like gravitas, and politico.

Unlike these two who are trying to take more than their allotted fifteen minutes of fame, I have more compassion for my fellow human being. My concern for my co-inhabitants of the planet has allowed me to place the protection of my brother's self-esteem above any petty glory I might achieve for myself. I have forsaken Oscars, Pulitzers, and even a Noble Prize or two so those around me won't feel bad about themselves. I'm just a giver that way.

Now Jamy and Dedman couldn't pick me out of a lineup, but if I do run into them I'll remind them that nobody likes a showoff.