Inferiority complex

It's begrudgery rooted in pettiness. "How dare anyone try and do something to better their health/the environment/whatever when I couldn't be arsed doing the same?", basically. It makes them feel uncomfortable and instead of examining why, they turn their ire outwards rather than in.

It can start early too. I remember the term "swot" for example being flung at kids back as far as primary school - to describe any kid who too visibly attempted to actually get educated.

There also seems to be a special judgement - perhaps a little similar to the nondrinkers one I am not sure - that some people have related to people who choose to remain childless and never become parents.

As for why or what is at the root of it all - I think there is no one answer even within any one of the groups. Let alone between them. I would say for example the source of peoples negative reactions to a nondrinker can be very different to the source of ire someone might have seeing someone out trying to better themselves physically.

Drinkers around a nondrinker for example might feel in their head like the nondrinker is sitting there judging them the whole night. Thinking quietly to themselves things like "Ah look paddys having another one now - bet he is an alco" or internally commenting on how drunk everyone is getting.

Whereas if someone jogs past you trying to get fit I would say it is less likely the source of ire is because they feel the jogger is running past judging them. Here is might be something like the person inside themselves knows that they should be working on their physical health and seeing other people getting after it and sticking to the path makes them start to self judge or feel a failure which they then turn outwards.

Not too long ago I was in the park with one of my youngest kids - at 7pm on a Friday evening - and some randomer guy walking past shouted "get a job!" at me. Didn't respond to him in even the slightest way or acknowledge him. But later I did muse on where that must be coming from. What must be going on in someones life to shout that late on a friday evening at a father clearly doing nothing but having quality time with their child? Wherever he is my sympathy going out to him.

In the end it is all baffling to me as I rarely notice anything that someone else is doing with their lives and find it bothers me. I genuinely can not figure out why it might or should. It is not affecting me one iota. And if you find yourself getting bothered by how other people are living their lives - assuming they are not actively doing anything immoral or illegal - then in all likelyhood it's not them that has the problem or is the problem. It's you. (Royal you, not meaning you the OP or anything :-) )

As for the tossers thread I have never opened it. I can imagine the type of stuff that is going to be in there and the petty minutia that rises peoples ire. From overweight people trying to get fit to what kind of clothes people wear. Being summer I can predict with almost total certainty there is going to be at least one post about people who wear long socks with shorts for example. Because in a universe packed with countless billions of stars and planets - and on a planet punctuated with war and suffering - what people you do not know do with their socks is _ clearly _ something to get worked up and emotional about :)

I don't follow that thread, but you'd want to be a very special type of tosser yourself to find a problem with someone trying to lose weight.

You nailed it with malcontents.

As to an inferiority complex, the nation that gave us Sir Roy of Keane and Cork people in general would give the lie to that suggestion.

Ah, it was a follow up on the cycle lane post I was referring to.

So are we suggesting then we have to assume thin fit and healthy person has an inferority complex about a fat person in lycra?

Doesn't make much sense.