You probably know someone like this in your life. This is the person who knows best, the individual who can “top” anything you say with something better.
We’ll coin this person a “topper.” Because, no matter what you say, they’ll top you.
That phrase came to me during a workout session recently from one of my great idea sources. During weekly conversations, he regularly comes up with thoughts, ideas, concepts, situations that I steal and use for this column. He’s a great guy. He shares openly. He dropped the “topper” phrase on me during one of those morning stretching sessions and I thought, “Hmmmm, have to write this one down and explore it a bit.”
Let’s say you’re going out to dinner and looking for an Indian restaurant. You’ve heard good things about a local place, the Clay Plot. You mention this to the topper in passing.
“Oh no, you should go to the Indian Palace, not the Clay Pot. The Indian Palace has the best food, great spices and a wonderful variety. I’d never go to the Clay Pot,” the topper replies.
Now, though the paragraph above is invented, it is also instructive because the topper doesn’t solely offer information or an opinion. That would be okay. We can all use additional information and most of us will listen to an opinion.
No, the thing about a topper is that they have to demonstrate how their place is better than your place. As if they need to be number one regarding KNOWING what makes the best Indian restaurant when we all have different barometers for measuring.
Another good example has to do with vacationing. Let’s say you enjoy going to the beach and you have a favorite idyllic location based on your personal desires.
You’re talking with the topper, “We’re heading to the shore next weekend in Delaware. We’ve been there several times and love it.”
The topper replies, “There’s a much better location if you head down to the beach in Maryland. It’s not that far and you’d like the boardwalk. And they have the best ice cream place and cotton candy.”
All that is well and good. Nice to hear. Thank you. The topper has once again topped you and let you know how your choice just doesn’t match up.
They know better ways to travel, books to read, TV shows, movies. And don’t get me started on cooking. Yeeeeeeeesh.
“That’s how you cook your spaghetti!!??!!,” the topper says, aghast. “I can’t believe you’d do that.”
And they go on to explain in detail how to best boil the noodles, how long to simmer the sauce, what to sautee first and all the ingredients that you left out which would make the dish the best spaghetti ever.
“Well, topper, I don’t really care about making my spaghetti to your specifications. Mine tastes pretty darn good and people seem to love it. So,there, take that.”
The thing is, we never seem to say that to the topper. We swallow, roll our eyes, say to ourselves, “Here we go again,” and listen politely to hear how their way is the best way.
My workout buddy and I wondered how much the toppers know about the way we feel about them, whether they know a term has been coined just for them and it’s not a positive.
We’ll coin this person a “topper.” Because, no matter what you say, they’ll top you.
That phrase came to me during a workout session recently from one of my great idea sources. During weekly conversations, he regularly comes up with thoughts, ideas, concepts, situations that I steal and use for this column. He’s a great guy. He shares openly. He dropped the “topper” phrase on me during one of those morning stretching sessions and I thought, “Hmmmm, have to write this one down and explore it a bit.”
Let’s say you’re going out to dinner and looking for an Indian restaurant. You’ve heard good things about a local place, the Clay Plot. You mention this to the topper in passing.
“Oh no, you should go to the Indian Palace, not the Clay Pot. The Indian Palace has the best food, great spices and a wonderful variety. I’d never go to the Clay Pot,” the topper replies.
Now, though the paragraph above is invented, it is also instructive because the topper doesn’t solely offer information or an opinion. That would be okay. We can all use additional information and most of us will listen to an opinion.
No, the thing about a topper is that they have to demonstrate how their place is better than your place. As if they need to be number one regarding KNOWING what makes the best Indian restaurant when we all have different barometers for measuring.
Another good example has to do with vacationing. Let’s say you enjoy going to the beach and you have a favorite idyllic location based on your personal desires.
You’re talking with the topper, “We’re heading to the shore next weekend in Delaware. We’ve been there several times and love it.”
The topper replies, “There’s a much better location if you head down to the beach in Maryland. It’s not that far and you’d like the boardwalk. And they have the best ice cream place and cotton candy.”
All that is well and good. Nice to hear. Thank you. The topper has once again topped you and let you know how your choice just doesn’t match up.
They know better ways to travel, books to read, TV shows, movies. And don’t get me started on cooking. Yeeeeeeeesh.
“That’s how you cook your spaghetti!!??!!,” the topper says, aghast. “I can’t believe you’d do that.”
And they go on to explain in detail how to best boil the noodles, how long to simmer the sauce, what to sautee first and all the ingredients that you left out which would make the dish the best spaghetti ever.
“Well, topper, I don’t really care about making my spaghetti to your specifications. Mine tastes pretty darn good and people seem to love it. So,there, take that.”
The thing is, we never seem to say that to the topper. We swallow, roll our eyes, say to ourselves, “Here we go again,” and listen politely to hear how their way is the best way.
My workout buddy and I wondered how much the toppers know about the way we feel about them, whether they know a term has been coined just for them and it’s not a positive.
