Click to listen to the loudmouth:

I have discussed from time to time with a close friend a personal irritation of mine, and that is the sense of false importance that many individuals have. In reality, in the grand scheme of things, how much does any one person really matter? Of course, to loved ones and family, we are very important. But, to hear or overhear some, a conversation could lead one to believe that the universe hinges on their being. There are many manifestations of such, like the character whom a friend and I painfully witnessed in my story Poor Winnie (see Part 1 here and Part 2 here).

There is perhaps no better example of such a person than the LOUD MOUTH or BIG MOUTH, in a restaurant, not far from your ear, where you are a captive audience member, forced to listen to their diatribes, rants, and assertions, which could lead one to conclude that they are genius in many areas of life, much like the self-proclaimed Creative Expert. There is no doubt that you are listening to such an individual – the word “I” dominates their sentences, and additionally, a particular emphasis is typically added to the personal pronoun. Pepper the conversation with a loud, distinctive, very confident, self-congratulatory laugh and now you have a someone with a big stick, much like a judge’s gavel, that will command attention, regardless of any conversation you may be having.

And what better place than New York City, where the sense of self-importance and community pride can rise to uncanny heights, to breed such individuals?  The classic arrogant New Yorkers, who, even though they may not have achieved any particularly noteworthy life achievements, can have tremendous attitude, as if their very existence as a native confers superiority over all those who were not fortunate enough to have been born in New York City.

Such was the case recently, sitting in Olive Tree Cafe in the Village, where a number of us were painstakingly exposed to a woman who was about as bad as it gets. She had neither a sense of propriety nor appropriate voice volume, oblivious to her surroundings as her booming voice and irritating caustic laugh rose above the din, so distracting that it became difficult to do anything but listen. The content of the conversation was not particularly important. It was “I” think this and “I” feel that. And no one really cared, because it was Just Another Loud Mouth 🙁