Put me in my place

So I guess I fall under the cheesy label of a "young professional"--almost 2 years out of school, held down the same job for over a year and a half now, blah blah. And I like a lot of things about what I do...but lately I've found myself getting a little too cocky for my own good.

I'm a sports editor and columnist for the world's largest Internet service provider. I mean, how cool is that? I also do freelance writing for magazines and Web sites. The point here is not to post my resume, but to enlighten people on the fact that I know I have a pretty good gig. Plenty of my friends are stuck in dead-end, entry-level jobs that they dread going to. I empathize with those people.

But when I meet someone new, it's standard for one of the first questions to be: "Where do you work?" or "What do you do?" Most folks seem pretty impressed when I give my answer, but then this weird feeling of "I have a better job than you" or "Can you top that?" comes over me almost immediately. At the risk of sounding overly cocky or smug, I try to put the focus on them and act interested in their answers. Maybe I'm one of the lucky few, although my job isn't perfect, but I'm definitely grateful and appreciative of the opportunities it's given me.

Don't you hate meeting someone who thinks he/she is better than you? This reminds me of the well-known arrogant label UVA kids have around here compared to the rest. And it also might portray me as one of those Laguna Beach-type trust fund babies--which I am definitely not. I guess I just need to have more of an open mind and realize that there's somethin out there for everybody. Until next time...