LMAO--Finally!

I recently made an amazing discovery about personal relationships. The go more smoothly when one is able to admit to making mistakes, and apologize sincerely for the bloody aftermath of one's missteps. And by "one," I mean--let's be clear on this--me.

You may be tempted to think that I'm being sarcastic. I know, I know, a blog entry written in earnest--what could be more boring? But actually, if you stop to think of it for a moment, it's incredible that I was able to make it to nearly the age of thirty without realizing that it's possible to be wrong, even when you're *100 percent sure* that you're right. Or that it's possible to be treating someone like a complete asshole, even though you *didn't mean to hurt them.*

Most people learn these things in kindergarten, at the outside. Yet it's amazing how far one can get in life while still maintaining a basic sense of superiority and infallibility. You'd think that reality--certainly social reality--would make this impossible. You'd think that the overwhelming weight of the evidence and the power of social pressure would stamp these characteristics out. But that isn't what happens.

One of the cool bonus features of discovering that I too can be wrong is that it suggests a whole new arena of amusement. My own fuckups! What could be more hilarious, it turns out, than my own idiotic behavior and ignorance? It's strangely relaxing to ridicule oneself. And it's so much easier than having to invent ever more tenacious and truth-affronting ways to justify one's deplorable, assinine behavior.

The other cool side effect of developing a realistic perspective on my own deficiencies is that it tends to have a disarming effect on others. This is particularly true of those who've taken collateral damage as a result of my anti-heroic attempts to maintain a brittle veneer of perfection. Fortunately, it appears that the human capacity for forgiveness is deep. I'd better hope that it is.