“Picture the world through the eyes of the jerk. The line of people in the post office is a mass of unimportant fools; it’s a felt injustice that you must wait while they bumble with their requests. The flight attendant is not a potentially interesting person with her own cares and struggles but instead the most available face of a corporation that stupidly insists you shut your phone. Custodians and secretaries are lazy complainers who rightly get the scut work. The person who disagrees with you at the staff meeting is an idiot to be shot down. Entering a subway is an exercise in nudging past the dumb schmoes.” Are you surrounded by fools? (Um, yeah!) Are you the only reasonable person around? (You know it!) Then maybe you’re the one with the jerkitude. (Oh…) From Aeon, an article that seems well-timed, and provides a decent way to kick off the weekend: A theory of jerks. (If you read my headline and thought this article was going to be about a certain person, that’s on you. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.)