Tuesday, April 24, 2007

One Upmanship Is Not An Olympic Sport











Jennifer: “I went to the amusement park and rode that new roller coaster last weekend.”

Nicole: “Well I went last weekend, rode that new roller coaster and got stuck upside down in the loop de loop for an hour before the firemen got me down.”

Jennifer: “Last summer I went on vacation to Italy and it was so nice and relaxing. It was the best vacation I have ever had.”

Nicole: “Well I went to Italy on vacation a couple of years ago. I also went to Greece, France and Spain. Greece was WAY better than Italy.”

Jennifer: “I was in labor for 5 hours with horrible back labor and then had to have an emergency cesarean section because of fetal distress.”

Nicole: “Well I was in labor for 35 hours with back labor and had my child natural with no pain killers. I ripped when the baby was coming out and had to have 15 stitches. The baby was blue and they had to revive her.”

I have talked to people who apparently have done everything and seen everything but it was bigger, worse, better, more expensive or any other adjective you can insert into the conversation.

Do these people irritate you? They drive me batty.

Is this a desperate attempt to make friends or are they really that much of a braggart?
I wonder if they realize that when they continually attempt to one up everyone else that it just makes them look like a pathetic, attention whore.

I try not to waste my time with these kind of people because I don’t know what is fact or fiction and to be honest I don't care to make an effort to figure it out.

I would rather sit with my friends and discuss the nuances of earth worms or watch dandelions come up in my yard.

When I talk to people like this it always reminds me of something that I read once.

“This person has the depth of a parking lot mud puddle”

19 comments:

Sizzle said...

i have a really, really hard time around people like that. gee, i hope i am not like that. . .(note to self: listen to what you say).

Eric said...

What gets me about these people is that they're are clearly making things up. So are they trying to get you to like them by attempting to impress you or are they try to seem superior to make themselves feel better? I don't know but either way it's annoying.

mielikki said...

attention seekers. They just want all the attention, all the time. I tend to just walk away from them all. They drive me batty as well!

Unknown said...

Oooooh these people irritate me beyond words! Of course when I'm listening to that I usually can't help but say "Why is it that no matter what I say you've done it better?" These people seem to have low self esteem issues maybe and want to be liked so they think if they've done it all also maybe you'll like them more. I have no idea - but it drives me crazy.

Churlita said...

I think it's a form of insecurity. (probably like every other annoying trait that people have)I feel sorry for them and try to stay far away.

Rachel said...

Sizzle ~ Me too. It is one thing relate to a story and tell your own but this is totally a different ball of wax and so annoying.

Eric ~ The ones that talk a lot of crap but have nothing to back it up with. Exactly.

Mielikki ~ It's like they are screaming Pay attention to me over and over.

Reformat ~ I have no idea why people do it. I remember that sometimes I would be telling this girl about an anecdote about when Devon was a baby and she took it as I was saying that my son was better than her daughter. That totally wasn't what I was saying but she took it the wrong way.

Churlita ~ I don't know why this bugs me so much. I know that my habit of correcting people's grammar has to irritate too.

Erica said...

These people also irritate me no end. They only want to talk about themselves and enjoy the attention so much! Like everybody said, it must be about insecurity.

Balou said...

OMG, I sooo know someone that is exactly like that. It doesn't matter what you did; she did it first, better and with more intensity. My good friend and I used to call her "Metoo" behind her back (as in "me too, but i did it like five years ago.") UGH! Sooo annoying!

Freckle Face Girl said...

I find it a bit amusing when they brag about things like horrible labor or car accidents. I just say, "I’m so glad I am not you."

minijonb said...

It's not an Olympic sport!?! What the hell am I training for then?!?

Diva's Thoughts said...

Oh I can't stand when people do that!!!

David in DC said...

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt the first couple of times they do this, thinking maybe they're trying to relate that we have similar experiences.

But if it happens more than twice and it's always a bigger experience than mine, not just a comparable one, these buffoons lose the mild reservoir of goodwill I let them start with and get categorized in the "who needs 'em" file.

Life is too short to waste time on folks who engage in constant one-upsmanship.

Tara said...

Oh yeah? Well I had heartburn while being stuck upside down on a loop-de-loop in the middle of an amusement park during an earthquake in Italy.

Not really, but yes the one upmanship game can get tiring.

Anonymous said...

love the post....

I have created a new game when I encounter one of these folks, I call it "make me the most broing person on earth". I will, on purpose, say something like, "I have never done that" or "I'm not really into that". At least then, they will leave me alone and go outdo someone else.

Anonymous said...

PS: thanks for the link....

Indiana said...

What I do with people like this is ask inane questions, or deeply probing ones that test their experiences...usually things to trip them up to prove they have little depth, less experience and show them that their life really is as dull as they know it to be...but hey, I'm nice and helpful like that.

Mrs. Hairy Woman said...

I have a similar post about this subject.. about my neighbour.. she does that alot.. trying to get people to pay attention to her and only her..if you can check out my most recent post.. and you will see.. you are not alone on the driving you batty...

sybil law said...

Well I know people who are WAY worse than the people YOU know... haha. :)
Seriously - they suck. All of them. My favorite answer to when people say crap like that (or anything I think is stupid) is, "So?!". Because there's really no good answer for it. :)

Lindah said...

OMG! I totally have a one-upper friend. She drives me NUTS!!!!!!!