You Are Not Special and Wonderful Exactly as You Are

In my posting, "Entitlement", I described a guy who treated me with nothing but dehumanized contempt while expecting me to lavish kindness on him (ironically missing the kindness I actually lavished on him because it didn't match the exact scripted kindness he sought, but let's not get subtle): This tight, ungracious, grim, uninteresting, self-centered little guy had offered absolutely nothing in terms of social interaction. But that was the last thing he had in mind, because he felt he deserved his movie moment from me just because. The notion of earning his way was totally alien for him. He offered nothing. I keep meeting people (Americans, not Portuguese) who offer nothing. They have their little shtick, the Character They're Playing — cloned off some familiar roleplay we've all seen in movies or TV. But you can wait all day and they won't say anything interesting or smart or funny or kind or distinctive or useful. They just present character, imagining this perfectly sufficient…