I found myself sitting next to two builders that got on completely soaked to the skin, covered in mud, their hard hats in hand and looking like they had been 5 rounds with Mike Tyson.
It wasn't long after we pulled away from the station that they looked at me.
I was wearing a very nice black Armani suit with an open neck black shirt underneath. I looked at them as they looked me up and down. They then looked at each other and smiled.
Most people would ignore a situation like this but being the kind of person I am and not one to shy away from confrontation I asked, "What?" in a really loud voice making others in the carriage turn around.
This shook them a bit and one of them said, "I was just looking at your clothes. You look like you sit in an office all day. A real days work would kill you." (actually, this idiot was wrong on both counts but...)
I smiled, "Who's job would you rather have, yours or mine?"
Builder 1 laughed, "Are you kidding? I wouldn't have your job for a second!"
"So what are you complaining about?" I asked.
Builder 2 woke up, "Well if he doesn't want your job, I'll have it."
I looked at Builder 2, "So what are YOU complaining about?" I asked him.
It was at this point they realised that they had shot themselves in the foot and then reloaded. I went back to my newspaper and they stared at each other trying to come up with some witty answer but, after four stops and no idea, they got off without saying a word.
Some people, like these two Bob the Builders, have a self destruct button in their heads where, most of the things they say for effect only have the effect of making them look like complete idiots. They have no filter.
The filter, the Reticular Activating System, is really a two way filter. It allows in only what it believes will serve you, do you good or what it thinks you want to see. It should also trip you up if you are about to say something unneccessary.
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