And.... you're crazy.

Know what I've noticed?  When someone is criticized they have a tendency to cry "jealousy" of the criticizer.  Now, I have great experience with this odd phenomena thanks to my elder brother Shane.  As a child anytime something didn't go his way he would respond in the same delusional defensiveness.  He throw something back at us, tell us we're just jealous, and often spout of  "the truth hurts, don't it!" when we'd deny his claims.  Drove us nuts because Shane was a compulsive liar and we (the whole family) knew it.  The rub here is that Shane is a paranoid schizophrenic.... so what does that tell me about all the other people I run into that use that same line of self-defense?

Yup, pretty much banks them into the "crazy" category for me.  I never assume someone is jealous of me, even though if I compare lives in simple terms I usually come out the better, but perception is key and I can't view my life from theirs.  I can easily pick apart the crazy that is their life, and I can assume a whole ton of things about their personality based on their actions and their own perception of their actions (yeah, THAT can tell you a lot about a person).  But I can't assume jealousy.  I can assume hatred.  Oh, that's an easy one really.  I can assume genuine dislike because ever since I found my voice, I have no problem using it to say the things that everyone else is thinking but doesn't have the balls to say out loud.  I do that a lot.  I get a lot of shit for it, but in the end, I still get respect because you always know where I'm coming from.  I'm not one to hide my feelings, opinions, or the truth.  I can also assume some degree of internalized self-disappointment.  Passive-aggressive responses are almost always made out of fear of actual confrontation and fear of confrontation is usually due to fear of someone poking holes in your argument... which is a hint that you know that something just isn't right with it... isn't right with you... connect those dots.