A Pompous Jerk Who Claimed to Be a Writing Professor Just Left Me an Elitist Comment

Go back to your four followers and your whiny articles about how nobody likes you

Image by Walter Rhein

I received a comment this morning that made me chuckle because it was such a pompous and passive-aggressive thing to say.

“You remind me of my students in my college-level creative writing class…”

Ha!

For those of you who didn’t grow up with a narcissistic father, let me dismantle what he’s doing there. In a dozen words, he managed to:

• Establish a hierarchy (I teach…)
• Put himself at the top of that hierarchy (It’s a college-level class…)
• Take a swipe at my talent level (by comparing me to one of “his” students)

I honestly didn’t need to read anything else because I’d already learned everything I needed to know. A dozen or so retorts came to mind:

• Are you one of those creative writing teachers who has never had anything accepted for publication?
• What specifically about my statement reminds me of your students? Your comment lacks clarity.
• I once had a creative writing teacher who gave me a bad grade and refused to…