Friday, August 12, 2005

Overcompensations

Last night on the way to the gym I saw a group of bikers on the road. The group was in front of me as we all waited at the stop light and one of the guys was revving his engine...senselessly making extra noise for no purpose. It wasn't just "rev, rev"...it was "rev, rev,rev,rev,rev,rev" ...you get the idea. I started looking at the situation a bit more closely and realized WHY this guy was revving so much. There was a beautiful blonde on the back of the bike next to him, and he was trying to get her attention. The chick didn't flinch. However, the man who she was with sure did. He looked at the revver and started laughing...probably because he knew the guy was trying to overcompensate. For what, you ask?? Not sure...but obviously SOMETHING.

This made me think about ways in which guys overcompensate for the areas in which they lack in their lives. We've all seen it...Like the bald guy who has no hair on the top of his head, but grows a ponytail at the back of his head because it's the only place that his hair grows? Why have a long tail growing down the back of your head, but have nothing on the top of it?? Overcompensation.

Here in Oklahoma we see big trucks often. The kind of truck where you need a step stool to get into it...and literally have to yell out "jeronimo" when you jump out. Yep, they usually take up two parking spaces and two lines in the highway. They make a man feel.... well ...*voice deepens* a lil' more manlier. It's always amusing to see who drives these trucks? The majority of the time, I'll see these guys at Walmart. They park at the end of the parking lot, so their trucks won't be in danger from door dingers. (not as if the average door could even reach the body of the truck to do that much damage!) I'll see the door open, and a little, short guy jump out. He'll do his manly routine...make a gruff sound in his throat, pull up his pants by the buckle, and mosey down towards the store. Why would such a tiny guy buy a massive truck? Overcompensation.

It just makes me chuckle...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

don't you just love it when you see the size of the truck tires? they're usually as tall as i am...sometimes i wonder if they have to throw a rope up and pull themselves into the truck...

or how about the wanna-be thugs who play the bass so loud in the car that everything in your HOUSE shakes?! what're they trying to prove there??

sorry kids, but monster-trucks-for-miniature-men and deafness-caused-by-idiocy are not qualities i'm looking for in a man...

Anonymous said...

Sorry to break it to you girls...most guys at some time or another liked (or still like) both of those things. Even when they get more "mature" the overcompensation happens in the form of career aspirations and seeking the corner office, trying too hard to be extra "religious" so that the church crowd is impressed with him, the car he drives becomes the new Lexus GS430 with the Nakamichi sound system, he starts taking vacations to places most people can't even pronounce the name of, big screen TV with HD or some acronym begin to dominate the living room, conversations about how much money he made because of a great stock pick are commonplace,...the list could go on an on.

The fact is that both men and women overcompensate for deficiencies in their lives by accentuating other areas.

To pick on two very stereotypical images of some men and accuse them of overcompensating is a little narrow minded. The people who drive these vehicles and play the loud BASS music might just like it. Maybe it's the rest of us that just don't get it? Maybe it is a free country where we are allowed to be different.

The point is overcompensation is all around us in varous forms, some may just be more socially acceptable than others.
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"Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out."

Anton Chekhov