Disclaimer: The following pertains to a specific breed of social-offender. The individuals in question direct their own negativity toward external factors/people, in an ineffective attempt to define and console their own anxieties, shortcomings, and failures.  

Signs of these people include:  

• Paranoia 
• Disconnect from reality  
• Irrational anger  
• Self-centeredness 
• Jealousy/Projected jealousy 
• Frustration with the state of their personal lives/occupations 
• Selective ignorance 
• Stupidity 
• Refusal of facts

They cannot be helped. If you find yourself interacting with these a$$holes, do not validate their nonsense with engagement. Find the nearest private place and laugh at them. Enjoy!  

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Dear World 

Please Kill Me, 

There’s a lot to learn on the road to becoming who we are. Unfortunately, it’s not guaranteed that everyone will reach that finish line. Whereas some people are lucky enough to have their aims instilled in them at an early age and find success, most of us need to endure wading in the waters of uncertainty and discontent. Experience needs to be earned. We don’t get there without taking some mental or emotional risks. 

At first, like with many things, this discontent is quite healthy. You show me a 20-year-old who isn’t mad at the world (for one reason or another) and I’ll show you what ignorance looks like. The idea behind combating our insecurity seems pretty straightforward to me. It’s like going to the gym— ‘pain is gain’ and avoidance of it will leave you frustrated and flabby.  

Life is the same. If we avoid the emotional beatdowns, we won’t be ready when they happen and we’ll implode. That’s how you end up as a 50-something, emotionally breaking down in a grocery store and blaming it on the checkout clerk. It’s difficult to learn from the obstacles and opportunities that life has to offer if we adamantly avoid them. Worse still, if we refuse to accept an appropriate level of accountability and mature-objectivity. 

Insecure people often equate this form of avoidance to self-preservation. Realistically, it’s fear. It’s fear of failure, perception, and generally appearing ‘stupid’ or ‘weak’. What they don’t understand is that life IS not knowing. No one can really be certain of anything that isn’t happening in their own minds. Even then, it’s not always true. It’s just what you’re able to surmise—likely without much accurate information. This leaves them making poor decisions. And yes, they wind up looking ‘stupid’ and ‘weak’. 

We need the pain to overcome the pain. Otherwise, we’re just blind in a maze. That usually results in an abnormal frustration that the individual in question has difficulty processing. Instead, they get mad at you, you, and YOU! This mouse never blames itself for getting caught in the trap. In its mind, it just wanted the cheese and nothing else makes sense to them. However, they could have just asked the other mice or simply watched and learned. Aggressively insecure people tend to be too impatient to save themselves the trouble. It’s an odd catch-22.  

Now, don’t get me wrong, this is a lot of speculation, but I think that there’s some merit to the idea that emotional-avoidance and social facades lead to deep and aggressive insecurity. Additionally, I’m not championing that anyone go Rambo on their communities (we’ve had far too much of that) or physically confront anything or anyone they believe to be the issue.  

Rather, I’m asking that those aggressively insecure people search within themselves. What can you do better? How can you improve? What mental gymnastics have you applied, that keep you stagnant? Why are you so angry? Why are you insecure? Why do you lie to yourself about your insecurity? Where are the facts? Don’t you know that ‘emotions’ are not facts? Why are you still here? Do you have a therapist? Get one and get the hell away from me? (That last one was just a polite F*CK OFF LOSER!!! #SorryNotSorry.) 

Anyway, it’s probably obvious at this point that I had some venting to do about this matter. Like anyone else, I have my off-days too but I have a particular distaste for anyone that wakes up and (intentionally or unintentionally) goes about the business of blaming others for their own misfortune and existential dissatisfaction. 

Let’s be honest, we ALL go through highs and lows. I just can’t stand the people that don’t f*cking understand that.  

That said, I’m gonna’ go punch a mule.  

Until Next Time, 

Antwan Crump 

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Bedlam: A Collection of Things Also Available on Google Books.