Experts and Excuses

Have you ever been really good at something and someone else comes along who purports to be really good as well? And then, when you see them do the action of what it is, they make excuses for why they are not better at it. They seem to feel that if the sun was not in their eyes, or if the grass was not so wet, or the controller was not so stiff then they could easily match your skills. But they do not or they cannot and it is obvious to both of you. What do you say?

I suppose I have been on both ends of this situation. I think the best people in the world make excuses for their shortcomings. But why? Why do we feel it is so necessary? It only makes us look bad.

A few years ago, we had a work party and towards the end of it, the host brought out the Scene-It DVD game. The assumption was that I would smoke everyone because I am the movie trivia guru/dork. I was excited to play. I did not tell everyone I was going to lose or that everyone had just as good a chance. I had never played before. Excuse number one. The trivia portion is just one aspect of the game too. Excuse number two. And, I am not a quick thinker. Number 3.

Our team did not win. I suppose it was my fault. I guess I let a lot of people down. Well, not a lot. But, it was still my opportunity to shine. I feel like I have since redeemed myself at another scene-it dvd gathering. This time I went head to head with my rival, P, who is a well-spring of useless movie trivia as well. His excuse was that he had not seen Backdraft in a long time. I can't fault him for making that excuse. I had just seen it and did a blog entry on it a month previous, so it was fresh in my mind.

I guess we make excuses because we want people to esteem us higher than the situation is giving us. We see ourselves failing when we know we have succeeded before. This goes back to people not knowing us and only getting a brief glimpse at the real us. But why do we care? Shouldn't we know ourselves well enough that we do not have to prove anything to anyone?

Then again, the situation does not care. The situation dictates to us what it will and we have to deal with that. I came up short and this is as good as I am at this particular moment. If only we could be that humble...