Delicate sensibilities.

I like to surround myself with gifted people. I do not subscribe to the belief that everyone has something to offer. I believe that there are some folks out there who really are morons without souls. Like the President. And prosecutors. But all of my friends are gifted in some way. Some are brilliant litigators. Some are fantastic analytical thinkers. Some are artists. Musicians. A few of my friends are disgustingly intuitive. And with this intuition comes a simple wisdom.

I have one friend in particular who is a lot smarter than he pretends to be. But more than that, he has that wonderful wise intuition. He's open-minded and non-judgmental. I find that many people who claim to be "liberal thinkers" call themselves open-minded and non-judgmental. But many are not. Many of these "liberal thinkers" are extremely judgmental. They are pretentious and pompous. And they take themselves way too seriously.

This friend of mine told me something wonderful a few weeks ago that really made me think. He pointed out that people let themselves be offended. In essence, they offend themselves. People who are confident in who they are do not become offended when someone says something uncomplimentary about them. People who are comfortable in their skins are more apt to be able to partake in repartee and intellectual dialectic. I thought about it. My friend was absolutely right. In the short time since he told me this little gem, I've attempted not to take myself so seriously that I become way-too-easily-offended.

I recently encountered someone who had not discovered this little piece of wisdom. He is a suitor that I was initially attracted to because he was so articulate. When we started exchanging emails, I discovered that he writes quite well. However, I also noted that he overused the semicolon and enjoyed extremely long and flowery prose. As a journalist/lawyer, I much prefer the short declarative sentence. I find the very direct approach far more satisfying. I pointed out his ridiculous overuse. He, in turn, responded with a metaphor involving music and how his abundance of semicolons provided a certain cadence and meter.

I don't like metaphors. Especially music ones. But I overlooked it.

Today I told him that I prefer a fast-paced life. He responded with, "When I play my guitar fast, it sounds boring." I thought the metaphor was trite. I said so. I was immediately attacked for having "deep-seated hostilities" and having "boundary issues." He also commented that my "litigiousness is boring."

You know what's even more boring? Someone who take himself so damned seriously. Someone who deigns to judge others based on two sentences of dialogue. Someone who claims to be liberal and open-minded, but jumps on the chance to analyze and diagnose personality flaws of a person he's just met. Someone who is so easily offended when it's pointed out that he uses tired literary devices.

If I took myself as seriously as he did, I'd be offended at what he had to say about me. But all that's happened is that I'm annoyed. He's as insignificant and irritating as a pesky gnat flying about my face. (How's that for a trite literary device???)