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It is disquieting to find yourself on the same side of an argument as a complete asshole. But even a complete asshole can sometimes be right.

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see: rand paul. or rather, saw.

There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.
-- Niven's 17th Law

Oh, I love that...

? details? I've always been fond of the aphorism "even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day."

Edited 2013-03-27 15:13 (UTC)

It's funny; everyone commenting seems to have thought this was a political statement.

Setting aside the degree to which "the personal is the political", this was very much an interpersonal interaction, not politics.

I actually kind of figured it was something interpersonal... is the "stopped clock" aphorism paradigmatically political? Was just curious about your mysterious comment. I like some story to go with my maxim - but of course any disclosure of the cryptic incident itself is at your discretion!

And sometimes I can't even tell what side of the argument the complete asshole is on, only identify the huge straw men he's erecting. That means that on the original topic, it's possible he and I are at least partially in agreement, if we ever cleared out the smoldering underbrush of irrelevancies.

In this particular case, the man involved was not made of straw. And there was no question as to what the argument was.

Ambiguities or irrelevancies would have made things less awkward.

I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse.

There are people who can tell you unpalatable things in a way that makes them sound OK. As in "Diplomacy is telling someone to go to hell in such a way that s/he looks forward to the trip."

There are just as many people who can tell you true things in such a way that you would like to change the laws of physics to prove them wrong.

I regularly see very upset patients who have been told something by another doctor that has completely upset them. I will tell them the exact same thing in a different way, and they will be fine. One of the advantages of my upcoming job change is that I will no longer be doing this damage control for a coworker.

I hope the social interaction has been resolved with no damage to your relationship with the non-asshole involved. Or that it involved no people you have any ongoing relationship with, and so can be forgotten.

One of the advantages of my upcoming job change is that I will no longer be doing this damage control for a coworker.

Congratulations on your job change! I'm glad your responsibilities will no longer include that kind of damage control. It really is better that it not.

I hope the social interaction has been resolved with no damage to your relationship with the non-asshole involved. Or that it involved no people you have any ongoing relationship with, and so can be forgotten.

Thanks! Unfortunately these are people I will likely have to deal with again, but at least both of them still seem to think I'm just fine.

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