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Do you currently or have you ever known

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anyone who you consider a fool? I know I

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have. To be honest, as part of my work,

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I have to deal with the consequences of

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fools almost every day, which is as

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pleasant as watching a slow motion train

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wreck on loop over and over and over

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again. Hello, my name is Ernest.

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welcome.

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I couldn't imagine there's anyone, past

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or present, that at one time or another,

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in their lives, hasn't screwed up. And

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in my case, I can tell you it has

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certainly been many times, sometimes

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very seriously. And as I have said many

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times before, it almost seems like if I

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actually believed in such things, acts

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of divine intervention, that I am here

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and alive today talking to you through

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this microphone. Now, bearing that in

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mind, it's one thing to screw up, but

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being a fool, that's an entirely

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different matter. Because a fool

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elevates screwing up to a whole new

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level because they specialize in

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repeating the same screw-ups over and

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over.

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You could think of a fool as someone

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whose screw-ups are at the PhD level.

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But there are a select group of people

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whose foolishness even surpasses that of

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the common fool. And they are on an

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entirely different level because often

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times they're not obvious. So you

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definitely need a bit of advanced

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perception to detect them. Now of course

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I'm referring to the person who is

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actually following paying attention to a

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fool. the fool's knowledge, advice, or

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insight. And that in and of itself is

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what elevates such a person to a higher

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status fool, which I refer to as the

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super fool.

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Allow me to give you just one example.

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A friend of mine I've known for many

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years reached out to me and asked me as

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a professional favor to speak to a woman

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named Cassie, not her actual name, who

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was friends with his wife at work. I

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agreed to because at the time I actually

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had a bit of free time and I thought I

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owed my friend a favor. So why not?

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After all, what are friends for? So, I

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met with Cassie, who was about, I guess,

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40 years old, at a quiet delicateess,

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and I carefully listened to what was

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going on, primarily the difficulties she

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was having with her 19-year-old daughter

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for around an hour and a half, only

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interrupting to ask a few questions so I

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would have a linear and coherent

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narrative to consider. Several days

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later, my old friend reached out to me

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and suggested we do lunch, which always

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enjoying my old friend's company. I

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gladly accepted. So, after a short time

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during lunch, my old friend brought up

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the subject of Cassie. Now, before I go

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any further, there is something

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important here that needs to be

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prefaced. Friendship to me is very

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important and deep. And all my friends

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understand that. But what many people

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often call their friends are very often

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in reality only acquaintances

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and the two are actually very different

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things. Regardless of if the people

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involved are aware of that or not. In

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the case of my friends, it is

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automatically understood that when I am

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talking about counseling matters,

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whatever I tell them is strictly

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confidential. That is one of the

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expectations of my friendship. So

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nothing is repeated to someone's

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friends, family members, work

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acquaintances, anyone.

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and any of my current friends who break

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that rule are no longer my friend. No

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ifs, ands, or buts. And of course, that

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rule is mutual. So, the friend told me

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he had discussed the situation about

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Cassie after his wife had brought it up

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to him. He said his wife was pretty

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perplexed because his wife said she had

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asked Cassie what advice I had given

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her. And Cassie said that I hadn't

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really given her any advice. She said

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that she thought I was a very good

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listener. But when she finished telling

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me everything she wanted to, that all I

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did was give her some very polite

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wellwishes and excused myself.

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Is that right? My friend asked.

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I said yes. And why was that? He said. I

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said because there was really nothing I

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could do for her condition.

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What condition? He asked.

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If I could just take a moment for this

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pitch. Here's the amazing and incredible

5:48

Earnest Man tote bag.

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Christ, which can be all yours for a

5:54

very reasonable donation by just

5:56

clicking on the link in the description

5:59

below. It's sturdy and holds a lot of

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ramen noodles.

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No, seriously, it it holds a a lot of

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ramen noodles.

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The condition of being a fool and a

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super fool. I really liked his simple

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one-word question. Explain.

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I believe this is why we have been

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friends for so many years since I tend

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to appreciate concision.

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I told him the daughter was a fool with

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no powers of introspection whatsoever.

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whose impulses were extremely and

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frighteningly immature,

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only obsessed with vanity, and

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constantly chasing the next new shiny

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bright thing,

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and also totally could not understand

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why her landlord was harassing her for

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being behind in the rent.

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There were a million cause and effect

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perpetual disaster scenarios involving

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the daughter. But to summarize, she had

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all the social and internal awareness of

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a mildly 12-year-old, but with

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the mother, it was even worse. Far

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worse. The mother was pretty much the

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same as her daughter in equal measure.

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But the tragedy here was that the mother

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absolutely convinced that all of her

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daughter's problems were caused by the

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world, not her daughter, and completely

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doubled down to defend her and

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absolutely enable her daughter's

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dysfunctionality

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by any means possible or necessary.

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In very short, the mother was being the

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super fool. And in either case, it has

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been my experience that there is

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absolutely nothing you can do to help

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either one of these kinds of people

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except keep your distance and don't

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become entangled in the bizarre web of

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their life.

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So that is the reason. Speaking to my

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friend, I basically said little to

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nothing, and bid her farewell.

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My friend took a good drink of his beer,

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thought for a few moments, and said, "I

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suppose it's the same thing as not

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trying to help someone who's sinking in

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quicksand by running over and jumping

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into the quicksand with them."

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"Exactly," I said. Hey, can you pass me

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the ketchup?

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Well, that's all I've got for today. I

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hope you found this useful or

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interesting. And if you have any

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questions at all, you can reach out to

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me via my website link in the

9:08

description below.

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And if you really want to give me a

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compliment, telling a friend about the

9:14

show would be the best compliment you

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could ever give me. Until next time,

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this is Ernest and I usually always am.