Idiots and dealing with them

I’ve always been afraid to call people a fool because it says in the Bible that is a sin.  I have enough sin in my life, I don’t want to add another mark against me when I go to meet my creator.  Having my book of life, thick with the pages of me calling someone a fool, is something I do not wish for.   I’ve resorted to calling them Idiots instead.  I’m sure that is a sin too, I just haven’t figured it out yet.

Truthfully I try not to call anyone names but there seems to be an influx of people that have fallen off the idiot truck recently.  I’m not sure if it’s a lack of common sense or just a bunch idiots walking the earth.

Lets define idiot: 

According to Dictionary.com Idiot is: an utterly foolish or senseless person.

According to Encarta:  a taboo term that deliberately insults somebody’s intelligence.

I like Encarta’s definition much better, the word fool isn't in there.  If I have resorted to calling someone a name and believe me it takes a lot.  It usually means they have done something so bad that I have felt I have no other recourse but to use the term ‘idiot‘.

What makes an idiot?  In my eyes it would be someone who absolutely refuses to listen to reason.  For instance if a discussion is happening then it is time to give a different view or perspective on the subject, the person with which you are talking to refuses to allow even one second to voice your opinion.  To me, that would be just the beginnings of describing an idiot.  Another one is someone who refuses to learn, or listen to reason, no matter how much evidence is put in front of them.  And yet still the saga continues, the idiots keep coming.

Another form of an idiot would be one who goes on a tangent.  Having just recently dealt with an idiot in this form, I feel I am quite capable of describing it.  For instance I asked for an opinion on something I had written.  This was fine I wanted an opinion, instead I got a rant or tangent of something that truly had no bearing on what I was asking. 

When I tried to get a word in edgewise, he yet went on in the same direction never even stopping for one second to answer my original question.  I happened to agree with the area he was going, yet he never stopped to recognize that I was agreeing with him.  So what started out as a discussion ended in a one sided rant.

Since none of my questions were ever answered, most of his comments went on deaf ears.  The things that were mentioned had nothing to do with what I was asking.  Ultimately, he could have possibly swayed me to his way of thinking, yet his rant caused me to close my ears.  What was his rant?  Pointless, because not only did I tune him out, but now I have no desire to talk with him on any subject.

There are idiot behaviors all over the world, in my small area of the planet there is an overload of idiots. Unless of course I am an idiot magnet, I’m not sure if there is some sort of scientific testing that can be done at this point. I haven’t checked with our local teaching/research school for this.

As an example of a current idiot in my life, my middle daughters boyfriend. He also happens to be the father of one of my grand children. The child is a joy, heaven help her that she has such an idiot for a father.

Not too long ago he was visiting for a day or two, I have always tried to help in rearing his daughter because he is young. Being young should not coincide with being an idiot, but with him it does. He gave her some orange juice in her bottle, now that in itself is nothing important. I explained to him that she is too young for straight orange juice, it will give her diaper rash. I didn’t have a lot for her to drink other than formula or water and he is of the opinion that if she drinks too much formula she will become fat. (This is another one of his idiot moments but not the one I am discussing)

I did happen to have a package of kool-aid and told him to go ahead and make it, the package makes 2 quarts of liquid. Then put 4 ounces of kool-aid in the bottle with 4 ounces of water. Rather than do this, he put the entire package of dry kool-aid into the bottle with 8 ounces of water and 1 tsp. of sugar. When I noticed this I had to break my rule of name calling, and he officially became ‘An Idiot’.

The crème’ de la` crème’ of idiots is my neighbor. I live on an area of 20 acres that was portioned off into 4 acre (approx) lots. The one man didn’t want any neighbors so he purchased a 4 acre lot that butts up to his property. He mows this very large yard, which is fine. Once a month or so he likes to walk around his yard.

I have dogs, but no fence around my yard. My dogs are very friendly, but they do bark if they don’t know who you are. One of my dogs is the son of Duke and he weighs about 35 - 40 lbs, he is the biggest of all my dogs. The others are lucky if they weigh 15 lbs each. Deuce is a young dog, not quite a year old and gets nervous around people he doesn’t know. His hair will raise on his back as he barks and wags his tail. Other than the hair raising there is no other sign of aggression.

Once Deuce went to say hello to him when he was walking, he took this as a sign of an aggressive dog. Rather than come to me and talk to me he decided to start carrying a stick in his yard. Two times now we have noticed the dogs sitting on the back porch only to suddenly take off running to the front of the yard. We immediately went to see what was wrong. The man was in his yard, calling our dogs with stick in his hand.

My youngest daughter went out to confront him to ask him what he was doing, at that point he informed her he was going to shoot the dogs if they came in his yard again. I suppose that is understandable, having fear of dogs.

This morning, 3 of my grand children were visiting so to slow the confusion the dogs were put outside. While having conversation we happened to hear a gun shot, living in the country as I do, we took note of it but thought nothing of it.

The dogs were sitting at the sliding door on my back porch, waiting for the moment they could come in. Yet again they tore off the porch, as if someone had come to visit. My daughter decided to see what was up. The neighbor was this time standing in the middle of his 4 acres calling my dogs, with stick in one hand and rifle in the other. When he was unsuccessful in his quest to kill my dogs, he went back into his house.

Why does this make him an idiot? First that he calls the dogs to him, they certainly wouldn’t come to him if he didn’t do so. In fact they wouldn’t even react to his walking through his yard. He absolutely believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that Deuce is mean, without even giving him a chance to prove himself.

He believes that Deuce killed a baby deer, we live in an area that is alive with Coyotes and even the occasional Cougar, and I have also seen a Badger. I find it hard to believe that a 40 lb dog (at max) will want to take on an angry 180 lb Momma deer. I have seen Deuce’s reaction to deer in my back yard, he runs to the porch rather than at them, seeking the safety of me.

It is my hope that soon I will be able to purchase fencing, so my dogs do not have to be subjected to being called, then shot at. In my State there is a leash law, Deuce is terrified of these. I have tried tying him up to my back deck, he reacts as though I am committing the most horrific crime against him.

So what is a person who is surrounded by idiots to do?  In the first case that one is easy, turn and walk away.  Let them rant all they wish, if the need is to talk to themselves, then let them.  Don’t even try to explain why you are walking away, just do it.

In the second case, hope that a big hole finds them and swallows them.  At the very least hope that somewhere along the line he decides to let common sense enter somewhere between the air holes on the sides of his head.

In the third case, he is an old man and seems to be living a lonely ‘old man’ life.  He obviously has been this way for a very long time.  The best thing that I can do is try to keep my dogs in the back yard until the fence can be built.  I could always hope he falls and breaks a hip, but that would be an unchristian thing to think.

For those of you who have to deal with idiots in their everyday life, depending on the situation deal, with them as best as you see fit.  It’s perfectly acceptable to mumble idiot under your breath, if the word “Idiot” should burst forth from your lips in a loud tone, you may have to accept the consequences.  At the very least, explain to them just why they are an idiot.

Before speaking remember to get your ducks in a row, otherwise you may be the one getting called an idiot. 

“Your Village called and they want their Idiot back.”