Haughty Eyes

Haughty eyes, got ‘em, seen ‘em? Ever have them here and there? Yeah, you sure have, all three cases mentioned have been had by all at one time or another. Unfortunately, there are those that have them all time, those full of themselves due to foolish pride.

Haughty - arrogant, vain, proud, stuck-up, conceited etc. Oh yeah, and that sneer. Those of us who have had these eyes at one time, or another are the lucky ones! We don’t consistently display this type of looks towards other people whether they be family members, friends, acquaintances, co-workers or people we have just met. The unlucky ones are those that are trapped in this way and they are traveling a rough road.

What of those of us that do not have haughty eyes all the time, but unfortunately have them on occasion? How about an instance where you have a family member or friend that did something that was careless or even intentional to hurt you or yours? Maybe they did something not to hurt, but caused embarrassment to you and you tackle the situation with eyes that reflect disgust or irritation by looking at them with that wonderful sneer until you can catch their attention only to look away with arrogance. Did you approach this person about the offense or situation to express your disapproval of this person’s actions or words? If not, do it, don’t use eyes of disgust. I call these eyes chicken shit eyes. If you can’t approach this person about the situation, keep your eyes to yourself. If you have addressed the issue, again, keep your eyes to yourself, don’t drag it out, get over it and move on. I’m a big offender of this, I blame it on my Irish roots, never being able to forget a grudge. That is very weak excuse though.

Have you now or ever, had that co-worker that is just so good at his or her job, so intelligent, so much smarter than you and such a suck ass to boot? You know that person or two. You could find yourself in a meeting and you are gathered with the boss and co-workers going over productivity, customer complaints, budget or whatever. You have a question, a suggestion or even what you might see as a solution. You bring it up and the haughty one does the condescending sigh complete with the snotty eye roll. This could also very well be performed by the boss, manager or whatever the title might be. Hey, he is Important you know, that’s why he is where he is! It not only makes you uncomfortable, but the others that are gathered become uncomfortable also. It would definitely slow down yours, or anyone else’s desire to make any comments in the future. But hey, you also could learn to have fun with it and keep it up in the future, as long as it’s productive and not out of spite, or to cause trouble for the meeting.

This isn’t just held to an office setting. What about you working as a tradesman? A cop, firefighter or other first responder? A medical assistant working around nurses and doctors? You could be working with someone that has more knowledge, more experience, and he or she is not afraid to let it be known to you or others. It happens there just as much. You might ask a question on procedure or technique to adequately perform your job only to have a response similar to the one mentioned above. The sigh, and or eye roll could very well be accompanied with a snarky “Are you ever going to get this? How many times do you need to be shown?” and many other comments made by Wonderful. What’s really cool in these situations is the addition of the exaggerated, gutless head shaking as Wonderful is walking away after explaining it you for the millionth time. That’s icing on the cake!

Don’t be that person. The eyes, the snarky remarks, the passive aggressive body language. You can even have haughty eyes by not even looking at someone. Just the way you sit or stand with your head slightly angled so there is no eye contact, but they can see you’re making it quite known how you feel with the look on your face and the look in your eyes.

You meet someone for the first time that’s been introduced to your existing world of friends. You have disapproval right off the bat. This person dresses weird, seems to have a chip on his shoulder, getting a bad vibe etc. Right away, the haughty eyes, the passive aggression towards this person, refusing to speak, but if you do, you're short about it. And you’re making it obvious. Never mind that this person could have just lost a child or other loved one. Never mind this person just might be in the middle of an ending marriage or other relationship. Never mind this person lost his or her job a couple months ago and now the house is about to go also. Go ahead, let’s throw some pre-judging aggression on their fire. You just never know. Hey, it could be us!

I mentioned earlier of us occasionally having those haughty eyes (try to make it never). There are people that just can’t seem to have any other type of eyes. Constantly looking down on you, being condescending, rude, arrogant. That’s too bad, they’re constantly living in a bubble of insecurity, maybe even past or current rejections. Hopefully he or she can one day escape from being the bubble’s prisoner and become a good person to work with and be around that wants to help others succeed with the knowledge they can gladly offer. That would be perfect. Are you that person who could help people succeed by offering value? You can be, we all can.

Pick Up Your Jawbone. Slay Your Philistines!

There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him;

haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil,

a false witness who pours out lies,

and a man who stirs up dissension among his brothers.

Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV