I don't know anybody important

[lonelydoc]

I had a revelation a short while back, namely, that I don't know a single person of any stature or fame.

Now, I know what you are going to say: we are all important, we are all special in our own way, yada yada....but how true is that?

I'm not just talking about big time celebrities or politicians. I mean, I don't know anybody, not one person, who is say, a mayor, or on the city council. I don't know any important local businessmen. I don't know anybody who has accomplished something of note in academics, or science, or art, or anything.

And I was thinking of all of the people and families I knew growing up, and all the people I've met in high school, college and beyond, and all of them, to the last person, are stable, middle class people. Hundreds of people. Yet I think of them, and I even google some people I've lost contact with, and none of them register as being unique.

Just a huge, anonymous mass of middle class workers, completely replaceable. That's all they are, that's all I'll ever be.

 

[Ymir]

I don't even know how come you guys live being so hateful and dismissive of others.

 

[ladyforsaken]

To each his own. Not everyone thinks that being classed a certain somewhere or being labelled as a certain someone makes someone unique, or worthy in whatever ways. Sometimes little things that occur in one's life is enough to make someone feel unique or accomplished, which you could not have known about because you don't know everything about everyone else. Also, you shouldn't compare yourself to other people. It's just unjustified.

 

[LonelySutton]

I don't even know how come you guys live being so hateful and dismissive of others.

Huh? That isn't hateful. Its a fact.

There are people that are societally important or accomplished. I know when I went to my high school reunion... I was surprised that no one did very much. I went to a private school and most people were just parents who really never much used their education. That seemed a waste. Their parents paid extra to make sure they had the tools to pursue such things.

But don't worry, you know me! I have actually been an elected official... in my town ( so I wrote myself in and there was clearly a mistake in the tabulating because they said I got 3 write in votes but there is no way anyone else wrote me in).

Consider yourself lucky not to know such people because I work with them every day and I have to say... they are horrible human beings. I don't think they try to be but once you become "important" people treat you differently and then you go off the rails and don't know any better. Recently I thought I had a friend in a normal person. She became an important person and suddenly, she started acting different. Though she had said up and down she wouldn't change either she did, or she was always not too good of a person. I am now starting to wonder if it means that to be important in this world you have to have values that aren't very good.

 

[Rosebolt]

It's not a fact. You're trying to predict the future of hundreds of people by saying they live a life so dull it can be easily replaced. They're not Gandhis, no Martin Luthers, no Mother Theresas, just middle class people that can be easily replaced. And that is so wrong, so so wrong.

There's a Gandhi in everyone. You can be the new Martin Luther. Oppertunities rise and fade in the currents of time, but it's up to each and every one to grasp them while they can. And some people will. They might not become as famous, but they become influential. Everyone is influential to some degree. You, too.

We're not asked to do great things, we're asked to all things with great care, love, and compassion.

 

[SophiaGrace]

Hmm. I wonder how you could change this. Maybe go to some town meetings?

 

[WildernessWildChild]

I don't even know how come you guys live being so hateful and dismissive of others.

+1 Nice to discover there's others who don't believe in social status as defining 'importance'.

OP- that's incredibly shortsighted thinking, we've all got roles of importance that have squat to do with how high of a profile we have in society.

 

[Sci-Fi]

So? Who cares who you know, why is it so important to know someone of stature? At my last job I used to have customers who would come in and toss around who they were or who they worked for, I don't know if they were looking for, some kind of special treatment or what but I don't care who you are or what you stature is. I wasn't going to treat them any different than I would any other customer who walked in. Personally I don't like those kinds of people, ones who think just because they have some kind of stature in society, higher education, fame, etc, that they are better than everyone else.

 

[TheRealCallie]

I agree with what Sci said. Stature and jobs and money doesn't make you important, IMO. Being a good person and helping others makes you important. It's not what you do, it's who you are.

 

[Alma lost her spoon]

A million years ago(ok 20 or so anyway) I worked in the bodybuilding industry, at one point I ran a shop selling bodybuilding clothes, supplements, weights etc I recall one day that a 'famous'(person off the telly) breezed into the shop & after a small amout of chit chat told me which hotel he was staying in & his room number. On making it clear to him that I wasn't in the slightest bit interested he did actually say the words "Don't you know who I am?"

It gave me the greatest of pleasure to laugh directly in his face. Idiot!

Everyone is important, value the people in your life, you don't know how long you may be lucky enough to have them with you.

Also-value yourself!

 

[Ruthie]

Come on, Lonelydoc. One human being should matter as much as another.

I've often thought - who is going to receive the best treatment in the ER? The football jock getting brought in with all the fans/media beside him or the lonely wino who fell and got a gash in his head?

Both deserve the best of care. The wino may not be "as far along" on his road to "perfection" (or he may be moreso! Maybe bad luck got him in his current dilemma. It happens!)

If I were working in the ER, I would like to think I'd assess each one and prioritise according to need, not status.

Please tell me that that is how an ER is run, Lonelydoc - need not status.

And it is so good to see you here, Lonelydoc. But I hope you will understand that I must agree with Rosebolt and Sci-Fi on this one. <3

 

[SophiaGrace]

Understand that if you do get in with this group of people, there are a lot of personal politics and backstabbing involved. These people usually aren't very genuine or generous with their resources (though there are exceptions).

 

[lifestream]

It's a controversial topic, lonelydoc, but I'm forced to agree with you.

For every queen bee, there's half a million drones.

This is one of the drones stating this, by the way.

 

[TheRealCallie]

It's a controversial topic, lonelydoc, but I'm forced to agree with you.

For every queen bee, there's half a million drones.

This is one of the drones stating this, by the way.

Following doesn't mean boring. It generally means you are trying to fit in or be a part of a cause. Now, if you are following for the wrong reasons, then it's wrong, IMO, but it still doesn't mean boring.

 

[EveWasFramed]

I've met a few local and state politicians in my area.
The fact that I know them doesn't make me feel any different at all.
I'm not sure why this is so important to some.

 

[SophiaGrace]

Also-value yourself!

This. You are important, even if you don't believe this.

(I actually think your perspective is warped because you should be classed in the Upper Middle Class (if you are an American) since you're a doctor, which is not bad at all.)

You have

A) Prestige (Doctors are respected as highly educated people)
B) Better income than most


Of course this will probably be different if you're a doctor from another country.

 

[VanillaCreme]

I don't even know how come you guys live being so hateful and dismissive of others.

I don't either. My guess would be because they're miserable with themselves.

 

[Tealeaf]

Who says they're replaceable? The type of people who care when someone gets tired of living a lie and offs themselves only because they're famous? The types who are concerned more with what they can gain from others than with the humanity of others? Hardly the ones to listen to for a final judgment.

Whether you're rich or poor, you'll do many of the same things in essence. A family that lives off of $20,000 a year will try to make the best of their Christmas, smile, bring out the family recipes, and take pictures of their beautiful, absolutely not replaceable children the same as a family that lives off of $1,000,000.

Then everyone dies, and the worms don't care how fancy your suit is while they're eating your skull out.

 

[Case]

I don't even know how come you guys live being so hateful and dismissive of others.

I don't think the OP was being hateful at all. Maybe lonelydoc is underestimating how greatness is not the sole arena of famous people. It can be defined by kindness, love, and openness to help others who are in a jam.

I have never elevated politicians, myself. They can all disappear, for all I care. What matters to me are good conversations, good people, and good friends. If I knew a really famous person, I'd treat that person the same as anyone else.

 

[TheSkaFish]

(I actually think your perspective is warped because you should be classed in the Upper Middle Class (if you are an American) since you're a doctor, which is not bad at all.)

You have

A) Prestige (Doctors are respected as highly educated people)
B) Better income than most


Of course this will probably be different if you're a doctor from another country.

I agree with this. If you are an American doctor, you're doing VERY well. It could be better, true, but you don't have to worry about money as long as you do your job which is more than most people can say. I agree that that may not be "great" in and of itself, I agree with a lot of your points actually, lonelydoc, and worry that I too will be nothing more than another worker at best. But one thing you've got is that with your income, you don't have to constantly worry about the sky falling on you, if you know what I mean. You're in a great starting point for greatness, you can take time to just relax and ponder how you want to become great, without worrying about how you're going to eat or pay rent. That's the hell most people even in America have to go through.

I don't want to KNOW important people. I want to BE one.

How do you want to become great? What do you want to do?