s is for sneering

What is it with sneery people, anyway? what the fuck is wrong with them?

Let me tell you a little story. It's kind of pathetic. Brace yourself.

One time, we had to go to Kalgoorlie for some reason, and Fabio had to go do some boring Man Shit, so I asked him to drop me and the kids at Harvey Norman. (Kalgoorlie is not filled with cheap,  family friendly activities).

So we wandered around looking at furniture I couldn't buy, and enjoying the pretty doona covers and bedroom settings, as you do when you live in the middle of Fuck-All in a hideous little house -- and we happened across a particularly loud red and blue doona cover.

Small child asked, "Do you like that one, Mum?"
"Ugh, no," I said. "That's terrible."

Behind me, Sneery SmartArse was out shopping with his friends, obviously a couple, although he was on his own, for reasons which will become obvious at any moment.

"OOOH!: he said, loudly, adopting a Dickhead-pretending-to-be-gay voice, "That's TERRIBLE! OOOOH and THAT'S TERRIBLE!! and so is that! and THAT!! AND THAT!!!!"

Why?

Because he was (is) a Sneery Person.

That one brief moment crushed me then, and still does whenever I think of it.

I grew up with these idiots and I allowed them to make me feel inferior. I second-guessed myself and I stopped doing things I loved because they weren't 'cool'.

Now I wonder what the hell I let them do that to me for?
Because they're idiots. They do not deserve that much space in my head.

Now, I have to say, people still sneer at me today. They might pretend they don't, but I know. I am not as stupid, or as deaf, as they might hope.

And I am trying not to care, because I like me a whole lot better than I like them.

I will not let them win.