Posted on 12/26/2010 3:15:21 AM PST by Scanian
My husband and I took our seats for the long flight home after another visit with the family. The rental car return, security screening and fight for the overhead bins had all gone surprisingly smoothly. I sighed and relaxed. Then it started.
Two rows behind us a man started talking. No, not talking. Bloviating. Loudly. He started holding forth and dispensing wisdom to his seatmate. Subject after subject, the plane was treated to his immense store of knowledge and experience. My husband and I turned to each other and simultaneously mouthed, "Blowhard."
This fellow was a textbook example of a blowhard. His voice was at the perfect pitch and decibel level to carry it to the farthest reaches of whatever enclosed space he happened to be in. Everything he said, down to his beverage request, had the weightiness of a proclamation. We were all merely ears to him, receptacles to be filled with his every deep, important thought. No topic of conversation ever existed that could not somehow be converted to his favorite subject: himself.
Where do blowhards come from? While it's true that a few will always have a blowhard bent, I believe that the root cause of our present explosion in blowhardism can be traced to the self-esteem movement so popular in public schools in the 1980s. According to the mission statement for The National Council for Self Esteem (yes, there really was such a group):
"The purpose of our organization is to fully integrate self-esteem into the fabric of American society so that every individual, no matter what their age or background, experiences personal worth and happiness."
As a parent of school-aged children in the 1980s, I remember the smiley face stickers and the songs proclaiming, "I'm the Best Me There Is!"
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
There are also blowhards that write columns and have their own television shows on left wing stations such as MSNBC:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/30/joe-scarborough-sarah-palin_n_789664.html
Inside every blowhard is a politician dying to get elected.
Blowhards are nothing new. She, the writer, is mistaken. I knew them back in the forties when I was a child and literature is full of them.
I detest being on an airplane with them
Some of the worst blowhards I’ve ever met are the ones that presume themselves to be the “blowhard sheriffs” of the house such as this woman who wrote the article. She doesn’t go into whether or not the man she mentions was right or wrong about his “bloviations” just attacks the manner in which he conducts himself. Jesus Christ by her definition might have been accused of being a “bloviator” and we humans had him killed!
There are three people that I hate being on a plane with. The first is the non-stop talker...the second is the first-time flyer who is scared and nervous...and the third is the woman who had four drinks before getting on the plane, and now drinking his fifth and sixth. I had a woman once explain to me her entire family tree in a two-hour flight...which I considered my worst flight experience so far.
Don’t forget the 400 pounder who needs the belt extension, can’t put the tray table down past vertical, sweats in buckets, wheezes like a leaky bellows, and spills over the armrest into half of your seat. That’s my all-time favorite.
Love your tagline. “Excelsior!”
Maybe it was Al Gore sitting back there. Oops, I forgot, he’d have a private plane.
Thanks you my friend and have a prosperous New Year.
My best memory is sitting beside two insane persons. Actually insane. I spoke to the stewardess, but she did nothing.
The ubiquitous Gun Store Fat GuyTM at a gun store who has designated himself as the "buddy" of the owner. Always talking, and, in his mind, an expert on everything. Can be counted on to be a gun snob (everything except his Sig pistol is crap), and an "authority" on hunting rifles and reloading. Will invite himself to any discussion about guns to tell you that your AK variant is useless compared to his scoped bolt action target rifle in some obscure caliber.
It’s much safer to fly though. Every flight I’ve been on has a Federal Marshal. They’re disguised as crying infants; Genius!
My worst memory was a business flight from Dulles to Frankfurt, Ge.
A LARGE family on standby was escorted on to the aircraft and their eight year old boy plopped down next to me. For almost ten hours he would not shut up or stop bothering me. I babysat that kid the entire flight and neither one of his parents ever came to check on him.
When we landed in Germany the head Stewardess gave me a free bottle of wine and thanked me.
I see that you’ve met my wife.
I highly recommend an MP3 player with earphones. That, plus a book, usually gives a good indication of a lack of interest in conversation. It also helps drown out what you don’t want to hear.
Who knew BOR flew commerical?
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