Wow. Basically what this thread is saying, is that our co-workers are all dumber than ourselves. I too have spent many years being frustrated with those around me, because they "don't get it".

This is however, a very narrow minded view of the world. So most of our co-workers only believe what they are fed, only listen to shite music, and apparently have no strong opinions which they've developed for themselves. Or do they? Have you ever tried to engage them in what they are interested in, not just what interests you? It is very possible our co-workers are genius at something that we know absolutely nothing about. Every person has something to offer, other than just organ donor. OK, or not....maybe we are in fact so much better than all those around us....it gets kinda lonely way up here though, doesn't it?

I'm not saying we have to be "bestest of friends" with our co-workers or most of the people we come in contact with, but I think there is quite a bit to gain from being open to those around us who we wouldn't normally associate with because we believe them to be inferior. Every man is inferior to another in some capacity.

i feel bad cause everyone in my area has to dumb themselves down around me. my imaginary co-workers are quite smart.

Not where I work. I feel like the dumb one sometimes.

i work with geologists who are on the one hand very very clever folk when it comes to the scientific end of the spectrum. however, they are not very good with computers. and a few weeks ago i saw a man who makes £250,000 a year spill boiling coffee on his lap and later attempt to dry himself by holding his crotch up to a fan as it hovered towards him.

the best ones don't ask me to tell them how i fixed their computers each day.
the ones that do give me headaches.

Heeby Jeeby wrote:

the_rekoner wrote:and i thought i was the only one who felt this way.

a scary thought but, what if everyone is dumbing it down? even the really dumb people!

you could be right. maybe my co-workers are mad bastards with interesting lives and lots to say but they're afraid to speak up cos they think i won't understand. i doubt it though...doubt it a lot. one guy in my job 'confided' in me there the other day that he smoked two joints when he was younger. TWO. to preserve my veneer of decency i called him a junkie and refused to talk to him anymore.

Jeeby, I think I love you man. You work tech, right?

alright andyman. i work in f*cking travel insurance office which is amazingly less interesting than it seems. i have to work in the most depressing place in dublin but then again i only work maybe 30 hours a week and get paid for the full whack. still wish i was a student like your good self. its the best excuse for being unproductive, sounds a lot better than 'i'm on the dole' which i was for a year or two. plus in college you tend to have more people around you who might be interesting to talk to (a few muppets knocking around trinity i'd say though!!!)

The other day someone in my office said he used to take "euthanasia" for his immune system.

He meant echinacea.

So to answer the question posed in the subject, yes.

You need a beer. Good thing it's a long weekend.

One day at a former job I dropped the word "Faustian" in casual conversation, and was told, "You're too smart to work here."

Another time at the same job I was talking with a supervisor/coworker around whom I didn't have to dumb it down, and coined the term "mal mot" as the opposite of "bon mot." He's like, "You're the only one here who would make a joke like that...."

In London, the academic libraries I worked in required all their staff to have degrees. At the one I work in now this isn't a requirement, so many of the people working there have come from an admin-work background. This means a lot of them regard the students as 'stupid'. There are plenty of dumb fuckers amongst the students - Teesside University being the nation's leader in Sport Science - but for the most part, they're just students, minds full of all sorts and not always putting at the top of their priority list the finnicky rules of the library. Having a degree isn't necessary for a lot of the work done by library assistants, but it goes a fuck of a way to enabling you to understand things from the student perspective.

Aside from that, it's amazing how many people's lives here consist of work and television. I do get looked at askance for having my fingers in more pies than just working in a sodding library. If I take a book out myself I invariably get asked if I'm on a course. No! I fucking read!