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Ridicule is sometimes the best antidote to stubborn intransigence
In one of my first positions of some authority (“Head Cook” at a Hardees restaurant), one of the workers I managed disagreed with me on the priority of tasks. He didn’t like taking out the garbage until we closed, even if the cans were overflowing. I politely explained to him why I was right and told him to do as he was told. He wasn’t pleased and gave me a “Mr. Know It All” trophy as a result. It was a Budweiser beer can mounted on a wooden pedestal with a plastic horse’s ass on top. I long cherished it as a badge of honor for being called stupid by a horse’s ass for doing the right thing.
But I’m also a strong believer in self-criticism (sometimes to a fault), and I do take criticism from others seriously. I know I can sometimes be stubborn, obstinate, pedantic, and curt, sometimes arrogant and self-absorbed. And like everyone else I sometimes have selective attention. I’m also wary of the Dunning Kruger effect, which hits us all at times (present company not excluded). And I appreciate it when someone points out an instance in me, even when it is embarrassing.
That said, I was recently accused of “ugly personal attacks” on social media against a friend and Trump supporter trying to defend the indefensible (Sharpiegate). Irony is not dead apparently. Mocking and ridicule is almost never my default…
