Feelin'Stoopid

I know I'm a bit of an intellectual snob. I tend to value those with education and a sense of what's going on in the world over their, well, stupider cousins. I inherited this from my father, who was always impressed with those who were smart, more than those who were rich or famous.

My father wasn't into sports, except for following baseball with me in NY and then football in Miami, but he certainly never thought dumb jocks were anything other than, well, dumb.

Despite this snobbery, I became friends with two fellows years ago. The first I met when we were both fathers of kindergarten kids, and he introduced me to his friend.

The second fellow was kind enough to refer some clients to my law firm, and that was the basis of a period of the three of us palling around together. I'll say that these 2 fellows were cops, because that's what they are, and the rest of my friends used to marvel at my ability to spend a lot of time with these two.

We did have sports in common, but that was it. Whenever the three of us were together, the time consisted of trying to out fart each other, even in the presence of our wives, and other friends.

There WAS some business good, however, and this is a reason I kept the acquaintances going. Over time, though, we all drifted apart, although the two cops stayed together, doing things like riding motorcross bikes and watching Ultimate Fighting together. I had zero interest in these things.

Well, yesterday morning we had a reunion, and met for breakfast. The two of them went on and on about such silliness, but they spoke loud and arrogantly. One told me proudly, how he threatened a stock broker who had lost him money, and was now banned from both the brokerage and a gym where they used to work out. There was another tale about how the two were at a country music concert and one of them proclaimed loudly how great it was that there were "no Latins there," which nearly resulted in a melee and arrests.

I sat and listened, thinking about how my partner used to say to me "I don't know how you take being around these two. Leave it to you --Mr. Chameleon."

I left the restaurant, and felt that I was actually stupider than I was before the meeting. I always joke with the Ds that when they watch reality TV, like "Housewives of New Jersey," I can actually see their IQs dropping. I felt the same yesterday about myself.

There were some laughs with these two fellows. We travelled together, and sometimes the wise ass quips were hilarious.

But, I'm not a blue collar guy, and though I grew up with plenty of blue collar guys, I guess I have to be true to myself that I just don't fit in there.

Friday night, I met another friend for drinks. He's a lawyer and former Air Force pilot. We talked about college football, of course (he's a major Gator fan) but also about politics, and our daughters.

Yesterday, I tried to talk about our kids with, as one friend calls them, Dumb and Dumber, and they quickly changed the subject. I guess the kids are the worry of the wives, in their world...

I told Wifey about this, and she also wondered how I ever hung with these guys. I also think part of it is my growing irascibility. I have patience for fewer and fewer folks socially, regardless of their sophistication.

Still, one of my mentors in life, a retired UM professor and true polymath, always advised spending time with those who elevate you, not the opposite.

That hit home hard, yesterday morning.