Isn’t it interesting how some people you thought were good folk are actually arrogant bastards? I’m not talking about the fine ale from Stone Brewing Co. I’m talking about truly, “I’m better than you” attitude. I’ve been silent in my blogs of recent simply because work calls, I’m not sure of the direction I want my blogs to go, and I’ve been wrapped up in the fairly simple nature of Twitter. I have a lot of friends on Twitter that I’ve either met in this wonderful virtual Universe known as the Internet and some that I know from work (both past and present).

The election is over. That alone has made Twitter 95% more bearable. During the election season people that I follow would be really ruthless and overly myopic towards anyone with an opinion that was not their own. However, it truly seemed as though the team that won was a lot more abusive towards the team that lost. Either way it doesn’t matter. I understand that some of the people I know have opinions that are the complete polar opposite of mine. I do not shove my political beliefs down their throat, and a fair number of people that I work with and know well don’t force their opinions down my throat. There is still a fair number of people that haven’t spoken to me since the election, and I think that the fact that I didn’t vote for the winning team is the reason.

This reminds me of my second day at work for Extractable (no hyperlink for a reason). It was election day in 2004. A small group of project managers invited me to have lunch with them. On the way the driver of the car said, “I sure hope nobody in here voted for Bush.” I did not say anything, but that was my undoing since everyone else said, “Hell no!” Being silent tipped her off that I did. What she did next amazed me. She pulled the car over and told me to walk back. She was serious. I guess I’m lucky that her boss was in the car and convinced her that wasn’t nice because walking back to work would have been awful.

I’m getting off track a little. Politics is just one area where people think that just because you have different opinions you must not be intelligent and therefore they should look down upon you like a deformed duck. Some people think they just know everything and won’t consider the fact that anyone is their peer. I run into this a lot simply because I drink the Microsoft Kool-Aid.

I know that sounds a bit strange, but I think it’s true. Just because I like Microsoft and their products doesn’t mean I don’t know how to write standards compliant web sites. Granted this one that you are reading now is a bit past its prime and needs updating. I still program first for IE based solely on the fact that most people using the web use IE. Since when did a democracy mean that the minority rule simply because they yell the loudest? IE is a good browser, as long as we are talking about IE7 or IE8. Even back in the day IE6 was a good browser (BTW that day has long past).

Still that doesn’t quite cover all the people that look down on others. Some just simply think they are better than everyone else. I’m not sure I’ll ever know how to talk to those people. If you are one, I am sorry. Maybe you are just an arrogant bastard.