This morning I had a dispute with Roger the Fop. It was actually more than a “dispute”—at least the rage I have felt since this morning informs me that it was more than a simple “dispute.” That rage also notifies me that that I am prejudiced—prejudiced against foppish people.
Let me try to explain: to me a fop is more than just “a man who is devoted to or vain about his appearance or dress.” A fop is shallow, self-absorbed, and rather stupid. A fop has little intellectual or spiritual depth. A fop is selfish and priggish. And this particular fop, Roger, would no more be able to understand the meaning of the word priggish than he would know the definition of a fop. In other words, I really don’t believe that that first definition of fop is obsolete!Acknowledging that I am prejudiced against fops is not easy for me to admit. I don’t like prejudice; I am prejudiced against prejudice! Admitting that I am also prejudiced against foppish men convicts me of a offense for which I would rather not be guilty.
Much of today my thoughts have been centered on what I would write about fops in this blog. That means that I spent too much of today thinking about Roger the Fop—much too much time. Even this evening, as I tried to wind down with a dinner of liver and onions, I had a moment when the ire I felt against foppish Roger disturbed my gastronomic enjoyment. So I forced myself to let go of those thoughts and the rage I as was experiencing at the thought of flattening Roger’s foppish pug nose. So I’ll postpone writing any more about fops and Roger specifically. Actually, there are other events today that were more interesting—at least to me.
This afternoon I went by my bank to deposit my commission check, which was much larger than I expected. There was a new cashier at the bank and she noticed that the check I was depositing was from Liberty National Life Insurance Company. She asked me what types of insurance I sold and I told her, in much more detailed that needed, with the idea flashing through my now attuned to a prospective insurance sale mind of a potential sale.
Instead of making my dream of another sale come true, the cashier asked me if I sold “identity theft” insurance. Of course, I don’t. So she showed me a program the bank has just begun offering that not only covers identity theft but several of the areas that the insurance I sell covers, such as accidental death and dismemberment, discounts on prescription drugs, etc. As she was describing this program, I began adding up the cost of similar products that I can sell. Would you believe that I came up with a total premium of almost $300 per year with Liberty National products? And the cost of the same stuff plus the identity theft insurance and another two items from my bank? Just $4.95 a month: an annual premium of $59.40, which is about 20% of what Liberty National charges for similar stuff.
Of course you know what happened. Rather than me, the insurance agent, making a sale to the bank cashier, I bought the program she offered to me. And, over all, I believe that I got an excellent deal! (I also cleared my mind, at least for the moment, of thoughts about Roger the Fop).
Nick, is there a reason why you have to be around Roger the Fop? Can you ignore him and his behavior or is it someone you work with?
ReplyDelete$4.95 a month is a cheap price to get rid of the fop - even for a short while. ec
ReplyDeleteI don't think there is anything wrong with being "prejudiced" against stupid, shallow, self-absorbed people. I avoid them myself. Most people do.
ReplyDeleteA prejudice is a PRE-conceived notion. If you KNOW someone's a pain, that's different- you are basing your judgement on experience & fact.
ReplyDeleteHowever, sometimes our judgements are based on more of a preFERENCE- I don't particularly care for the color pink-
(yet somehow I ended up with an offspring that wears nothing but:) who encourages me to give it a try-but :p
PS
ReplyDeleteyeah, i know!
well, sometimes i give in:)
I agree with Thomas, i avoid them at all costs or if i am forced to endure them, i always try to get in a few snide remarks into the conversation, although they are so self consumed they never get it!!
ReplyDeletePEACH: Roger isn’t around too often; but when he is he usually spends his time putting the agents down. He’s the office supervisor’s supervisor and travels around six or so states.
ReplyDeleteThursday he jumped me at 5:30 p.m. when I went into the office to finalize and submit a policy I had just sold. He said I needed to change my shirt because I “wasn’t making a good first impression.” Hell, the only one there was Roger and I was going home to shower and change for an Association meeting that I spent the evening leading. Besides which, I had spent most of the day in 95 degree heat either in my non-air conditioned car or in homes without air conditioners; the one exception was the office of the lawyer to whom I sold the cancer policy for his wife. He didn’t seem to mind that I walked into his office covered with perspiration.
The confrontation continued Friday morning when Roger wanted to “talk to us.” Although we were in the office at 8:00 a.m., he didn’t begin what he must have thought was a “motivational speech” until 9:45, which caused three of us to be 45 minutes late to our first appointment to offer insurance to Kentucky State employees. We sold no insurance.
MREDDIE: Yes, it is inexpensive and has me wondering about the products I am selling for Liberty National.
THOMAS: Thank you. I plan to avoid Roger as much as possible. Did I mention that, besides being a fop, he his also greedy?
RHAPSODY: Yes, I am basing my “prejudice” on experience with Roger. As I think about it, I have known some rather nice fops in my life. They weren’t very intelligent, but most were OK. I met one at my last high school reunion. He proclaimed his success with his Rolex watch and his $1500 suit. And I remembered the days when I wrote his English papers for him.
MICHELLE: I agree. I made a rule for myself some time ago not to hang around people I didn’t want to be around and to ignore comments that were meant to put me down.
Is Roger from Texas? I once knew an insurance agent who sounds just like him.
ReplyDeleteAZSONOFAGUN: I think he is from Georgia.
ReplyDelete