Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.
People are always saying unflattering things about you.
Even if you’re the Pope.
The only time it can affect you, however, is when you hear about it.
Or, worse, if someone makes the unpleasant comment directly to you.
Which brings us, quite naturally, to Twitter.
Here’s a place that’s just too perfect for the nasty, uncontrolled insult.
You can hide behind your egg and toss Bons-Molotovs at anyone you choose.
Some people choose Kim Kardashian.
She’s an easy target.
Her life seems effortless. She’s painfully wealthy, with a TV show, branded products left and right and an appearance fee surely only rivaled by Hillary Clinton.
Hers is such a cushy life that she can listen to Kanye West any time she wants.
Small wonder, then, that a Twitter user called Kevin James offered a wry dig at her countenance.
Is it me, or is @KimKardashian Sooo Self-absorbed.. even when she’s saying Nothing.. lol.. & I Like the Kardashians #KUWTK
— Kevin James (@kevinjames4good) January 22, 2018
If you’ve ever been attacked on Twitter, you have choices.
You can reply aggressively. This is rarely worth it with a troll.
You can ignore it and even block the person who directed their bile your way.
You can wait for your own fans to descend upon this poor individual and shred him from tweet to tweet.
Or, you can be splendidly disarming.
This last path was the one taken by Kardashian.
No it’s not you, I totally am! https://t.co/9ZxgPyVkko
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 22, 2018
Not everyone can pull this off with a straight face.
But here, Kardashian showed she understood the emotional essence of her interlocutor.
His biggest problem was surely that he isn’t Kim Kardashian.
So she brought him onto her side with something so blessedly charming that it not only made her seem entirely self-aware — rather than merely self-absorbed — but also must have enticed a chuckle from Kevin James himself.
Indeed, it incited James to respond with quite considered contrition.
@KimKardashian Listen: altho my tweet came across “seemingly” disrespectful, it was just a thought/tweet worthy reaction.. lol… No DisRespect.. .. & I Appreciate ur Sense of humor, & @cassbrunelle14 for calling me out.. lol.. props to the Kardashian Empire
— Kevin James (@kevinjames4good) January 22, 2018
And so, without a word of insult, without so much as a miffed gesture, Kardashian took a situation that could have been emotionally straining and turned it into one the most pleasant feelings we have: laughter.
We’d all love to have that skill.
On truly good days, we find it.
On most other days, we walk away from a tense situation and only then do we start kicking ourselves that we didn’t react a different way.
Harnessing it surely takes practice. A lot of practice.
Something Kardashian has surely done.
How will you ever keep up with her?