Overflowing with genius

Where I work, I am literally surrounded by geniuses. Certified MacArthur Award winners. Nobel Laureates. Those who got perfect scores on their SATs. People who are changing the world, many of whose names will go down in history. And then just your regular, run-of-the-mill geniuses, too (feed that into your oxymoron decoder!). Not in my office, specifically - I'm part of the I.T. department, but we're there to support the geniuses. Lot's of people on the Autism spectrum, too - and there I do include a lot of my colleagues, but mostly the others. Some of whom can get pretty nasty sometimes - trying to tell you they know how to do your job better than you do which, let's say ninety-eight-point-three percent of the time, give or take, isn't really the case. But they'll make your life miserable because they can. Like grade school bullies, it must stoke their own egos or something. Someone once told me you can tell the world about a person by the way they treat the waitstaff at a restaurant. While I've (thankfully!) never been out to a meal with any of the aforementioned, I can only imagine they'd be the horrid type of customer who would complain loudly about everything and then leave a three penny tip.

Not all of the geniuses are mean, of course. Nor are they all socially awkward or difficult. There are many who are have learned coping skills for interacting with others, and beyond that there are those who are outright brilliant while at the same time being amazingly well adjusted if not socially gifted. The really nice ones are the ones you'd bend over backwards to do anything for, because they know we have skills and experience they don't, and they truly value that. Now pair that with amazing good looks and multiple other talents outside their particular area of genius and, well, from the outside looking in, it sure seems that maybe there really are some folks who "have it all." It can be hard not to be envioius. Yet despite the "rarified air" of my workplace, I know it's a microcosm of the world at large - all people, all with their own particular desires and difficulties, all trying to get by in this world. Some treat others with dignity and respect, some do not. Some seem to have it more together than others, but who knows what's really going on for them, outside of themselves? Genius has little to nothing to do with whether one is a decent human being, nor does a line anywhere on the Autism spectrum. And honestly? I think I'd take kind over genious most any day.

— Zachary