Over-feeling Yourself

Over the years, I have had the pleasure of meeting and befriending a wide away of people from a vast array of educational, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds. I appreciate each person equally for who they are and what they bring to the table.  I had no idea beforehand people that would be more successful than others.  Nor could I predict the role some people would play in my own successes.  I know I am blessed to have such a successful circle.  What perplexes me is when I stumble into people that are overly pretentious, snobbish, and flat out stuck up.  It is despicable to see how some people feel that they are beyond acknowledging and replying to people- whether on a social site or in person. Real life celebrities are more humble and gracious than some people.  Or is it that everyday people think they are a celebrity.  Everybody can’t be Kanye.

Black people who are pretentious make me sick to my stomach.  Black people who by the hair on their chin barely made it out of the hood are the very worst.  I often refer to them as the pseudo-bourgeois because they have absolutely no assets in which to be bourgeois about. You know, the ones that rent their house, lease their car, rent their rims, spend money they don’t have to have the latest bag or shoes and then have the audacity to be arrogant.

A very small percentage of black people do come from relatively affluent families (in comparison to other blacks but are still wwwayyyy behind whites).  While they still get no pass for being stuck up, it is more understandable.  Sometimes snobbish attitudes are passed down from one generation along with their inheritance.  However, the trip to poverty can be swift with a few bad investments, a loss of business, and/or criminal charges.

Then there are those blacks that have made it and are established despite the odds against them.  They are first generation professional degree graduates, entrepreneurs, and businessmen.  And in my experiences, it is these people that are the most grounded after their respective successes.  I suspect it is because to come out of nothing you need both an exceptional work ethic and people to help you along the way.  Those same people that helped a person should also be contractually bound to remind you from where you came and keep you grounded.  After all, success means little without the ability to connect to the people that got you there.

Talent is God-given; be humble. Fame is man-given; be thankful. Conceit is self-given; be careful. – John Wooden