"Dumb lower-class people..."

...that's what my dad said over the phone to me on Sunday. Furthermore, he followed that with "versus intelligent upper-class people." What a ****ing unmitigated snob. I don't understand why he is like that -- I mean, I get that he's extremely well-known in his field and that his work has earned him positions on very well-respected ang prestigious organizations. But **** man, he is so unbelievably insular and narrow-minded it is ridiculous. He cannot for a second appreciate that not only might someone want a life that is different from his, but that one can choose a different life for themselves while still validating other people's choices as well. Every time I tell him that I don't want to live the way he does, he says, "What's wrong with the way I live?" in a very defensive tone. For ****'s sake, NOTHING is wrong with it. But it's not for me. Yuppie suburbia in a fancy-schmancy neighborhood with no room to breathe. Apparently, that makes me a simpleton in his eyes. No joke. The truth is, he really knows very, very little outside of his field. I know he resents that I never got a doctorate like he and my sis did (or even a Master's like my mom), but honestly, a Ph.D. would be useless for my purposes. The only field in which I would want to get a doctorate is a field to which I can never return, and he himself has admitted that unless you are really, really passionate about the subject matter, you shouldn't waste time and money on a doctorate. The most infuriating thing is that I have explained all this to him... many, MANY times. He shouldn't need me to explain it to him again. *******it. It's just so infuriating. My sis is very academic too, but at least she's humble and appreciates what I do. My mom tries to understand, but even she doesn't really get me. I'm way more autodidactic than they are (I taught myself logarithms and matrices for my Chem classes because my math classes didn't teach ****). I'm way more kinesthetic. I don't like being shoved into one category. I'm a sarcastic, stubborn, foul-mouthed, unruly, dark soul who loves nights, animals, and dancing outside on my balcony in thunderstorms. Sorry, not sure why I added that last part LMAO. Truth though. And that does not describe any of them. I don't know... my mom swears she recalls giving birth to me, and I look like both of my parents LOL. But still...

I’m sorry your dad talks like that you’ve written about him before, he sounds (sorry if I get this wrong) very narrow minded.

I wonder if you added that last bit on about the balcony a way of asserting your individuality because tbh he sounds like he doesn’t understand anything outside his own experience. Academically intelligent probably but what about emotional intelligence…,

You’re absolutely right, he is very narrow-minded. He doesn’t understand anything whatsoever outside of his little box. His emotional intelligence is absolutely nil.

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Since you are sarcastic, why not try sarcasm on your dad? Next time he says something like this, how about countering with 'Dad, as always, I admire your humility and tact"?

Oh, wow, your dad is sure narrow-minded. No human being is allowed to say that to anyone. It's just so mean.

Not just that, it’s wildly inaccurate — I’ve known some incredibly smart people who never went to college, and I’ve known some pretty dumb Ph.D. Graduates.

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That is a thought…

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One thing people need to be careful about when looking down on others is that others may be looking down on them.

People get very competitive when it comes to who has more money, the nicer house, better car, fancier clothes, etc. etc. etc. Little do they know that while they may feed their own ego about how "successful" they are, there will ALWAYS be somebody who has a LOT more money, a WAY BIGGER house, a MORE LUXURIOUS car, FAR NICER nicer clothes, etc. etc. etc. Success is very subjective.

Sort of along those lines and I'm simply looking for an excuse to share this story so here goes....

One cold and windy night I was on my way to a football game and I stopped at a gas station. I am a huge car guy but I laugh at all the dudes around here with Corvettes and Camaros because they think they are so great. Well, walking back to my car this Ferrari pulls up. I flipped. The driver gets out. He was young and good-looking. Unable to contain my enthusiasm, I went up to him and told him I loved his car. He then stops what he's doing, shows it to me, takes the top down (remember, the weather was nasty), started the car back up and revved the engine a few times. I was like a kid at Christmas.

My point is is this young man seemingly had the world by the tail yet he was gracious enough to spend a few moments with me and let me drool over his car for a few minutes with zero pompousness and it really made my night. He didn't feel the need to HAVE to show others how much more "successful" he was. I'll never forget that.

Nailed it.