INSTIGATING LOGIC
By JARED PUTNAM

A few weeks ago I was attending a community event when I spotted a nice fellow I know. I struck up a conversation and as we were talking he introduced me to another person there, telling them, "Yeah, Jared's doing a good job at the paper. I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about what he's doing." Naturally I thanked him for the compliment, but had to be honest with him.

My response? "You just haven't been talking to enough people."

He got a good laugh out of it, but while I was making light of it, I was also being serious. Because let's face it, the old saying is true. You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time. Heck, I'm even pretty iffy about that middle one.

In any case, unless you live under a rock, you will inevitably run across people that just don't mesh with you, or you with them. Sometimes you encounter people that clash with just about everyone.

When I was in college I spent my senior year out of the main dormitory in a smaller,

nicer dorm that housed 12 guys on the bottom floor and 12 on the top floor. Each floor had its own common area and kitchen that everyone shared. In this smaller setting, you really got to know your dorm-mates much better than in a bigger dorm. I was able to make some good friends there. On the other hand, sometimes you got to know some people better than you would like.

Near the end of the year, one very unique guy in the dorm explained to me that I, along with a few other people on our floor, were part of a clique. That people only liked us because of our hot cars and good looks. I tried my best to explain to him that none of us were in any danger of getting any modeling contracts, and that while I did like the car I had at the time, a Ford Escape isn't exactly a Porsche.

But reason was never his strong suit and he was basically tuning me out. I finally gave up the argument and as seriously as I could, told him, "You know what, you're right. In fact, we wouldn't even let Dave into the group until he got his new Montero." Oddly enough, he didn't

find that half as funny as I thought it was. But by that point the conversation was academic anyway. As I would later find out, this fellow had long kept a record of everyone's "transgressions" against him. Each and every person who he felt had done something wrong to him had been...kept on file...so to speak. The guy had a file on me and most anyone else who he really disliked.

Talk about having trouble letting go. It's not exactly the picture of good mental health.

But its not something I took personally either. Because some people can't get along with anyone, and no matter how they treat other people, they see themself as the victim. The truth is that in those cases, things are never very different no matter who is in the situation. I just happened to earn my place in that particular file by being the guy who only says what everyone else is thinking.

Sometimes, when dealing with a very unique individual, what everyone else is thinking just happens to be, "Hey, I don't want to put you out or anything, but if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you maybe try being less crazy? Thanks!"