stupid cool

I'm just gonna come right out with this question: why is being stupid, cool?

Why is acting stupid, even if you're not stupid, cool? Why do people do it and more importantly, why do so many buy into it? Let's analyse, shall we?

When you're young, like elementary school young, the kids will mercilessly make fun of you for everything. Every-fuckin-thing. They will make fun of you for being too tall, too short, too fat, too well-developed, too red-haired, too good at things, too bad at things and even too smart. This, incidentally, is how "nerds" and "geeks" are born. The only thing that kids won't make fun of you for is being too stupid and if they do, it's the "smart" kids saying it, and who gives a fuck what they say anyway.

When I was a kid, I remember being baffled by this reality. Why was it that it was cool to get bad grades? Why, when a kid talked about how he or she never studied and didn't care about school or grades or anything outside of pure social status, was this not only well-received, but followed? How did those kids get away with not trying and exhibiting poor performance? If I were to do that, I would be grounded for a year and spend the whole summer studying at the "school of Eileen", held in my living room, daily.

It's not just in elementary school that I see this happening, however. It's happened in all phases of my life. Why is it considered acceptable to speak and write with exceedingly poor grammar and spelling? Are these people just crafty enough to fool their 'audience' with the idea that their missteps are intentional, and therefore cool? I ask, not because I want to join their ranks, but out of sheer, morbid curiosity. Because what happens when the stupid - intentionally or otherwise - are unleashed on the rest of us, is a great deal of frustration and slowed progress.

It is considered impolite or even rude to correct a person's spelling or grammar in business. That said, they invented spell check to help those of us who paid attention in 5th grade, avoid the pain of constantly having our eyes and ears assaulted. Despite the invent of this clever tool, people ignore it or refuse to engage its services and then I am forced to deal with a person who clearly has no command of our common language.

My initial reaction to this person is that he or she is not very bright and somehow "fell into" the position they currently hold. This is, admittedly, snobby of me, but I am more forgiving than many I know, so this means that a lot of people are walking around harboring these thoughts. Strange though, how it is against protocol to expect or encourage a more elevated level of communication in business.

The same holds true for the person who is perpetually out of sorts and disorganized. This is not an excuse for why things do not get finished in a timely manner. Everyone has times where things get to piling up, but for fucks sakes, get your shit together. I can't imagine that in a world of quick decisions and goal driven individuals that this behavior will go over, but amazingly, it does. Regularly. I always thought the stupid people would end up in the low end jobs, unable to make significant forward progress in their lives, but here's what's happened; the world has been dumbed down for them and instead of leaving them behind, moves at their aggravatingly slow and disheveled pace. What the fuck?

Perhaps, I neglected to factor in the follower in most people, even of a senior standing. I should have given the stupid more credit for developing craftiness and bullshitting skills that would see them through. I guess people will get behind anything, even if it's all smoke and mirrors.

Do they teach classes for that?