Figurative Balloon Pop
St. Clement said, "God hates those who praise themselves." In cultures where modesty is very important, we hold that believe strongly. We could and put ourselves down as much as we want, which is being modest, but we are not allowed to be arrogant, look down upon others, or put them down by complimenting ourselves, boasting, or attacking. If we plan to encourage ourselves, we could only say, "I can do it" in our minds.
That is why I do not show off, say positive things about myself, or tell others I’ll do well. People bragging or saying that they got or will get a good result (when it’s not true) are figuratively blowing a balloon, which I eventually call "balloon blowing." When others find out the truth, that they are not as good, or they received a bad result, they popped the balloon, which I call "balloon pop."
Examples of a balloon pops happen when people boast, "I’m the smartest person in the class," "I’m going to get A’s," or "I’m going to be the champion!" When others learn that the braggers are actually stupid, didn’t get A’s, or didn’t win championships, the balloons popped, and shame, embarrassment, and disappointment occurs. In cultures with modesty, they say, "If the balloon pops, don’t expect to live in your hometown," because the news of the figurative balloon pop will quickly spread, and you’ll receive the shame everywhere you go.
I’ve faced many balloon blowers at school, and those people are often arrogant and narrow-minded. In college, a rude and arrogant classmate often bragged that he was going to get the best grades in the class. However, several times, he didn’t even do well, and it was a good feeling for us since he was often putting us down.
My graduate school has the rule that you can’t finish the Masters program in less than 12 quarters unless you have enough transfer units. That time, I had enough to finish a quarter early. There was a student who started one quarter earlier than I did. During his first year, he boasted that he would be done with all his classes by his ninth quarter. In his 10th quarter, he still had more remaining classes than I did. Despite knowing about his balloon pop, he still had the nerve to blow another one. During his ninth quarter, he kept bragging, "Next quarter is my last quarter," making me wonder how he could graduate in only 10 quarters if he had less transfer units than I did. I began to suspect he had some sneaky ways. Then in his 10th quarter, I heard him say, "I have one more class left next quarter." This proved that he had been blowing two balloons about the same time, and both had popped.
I once caught a girl from his clique with a balloon pop. I had heard that she didn’t pass a test, but when I brought it up again later, she claimed, "Yeah, I passed it," so I thought I had misunderstood what people were saying. A few days later, I saw her taking that test, which meant she either hadn’t taken it yet, or failed it, but lied and blew a balloon, which was now popped.
Another balloon pop took place in our school clinic. The Masters program has three clinic levels, and that quarter I was still in the middle level. It was the day of the clinic orientation for the students in the highest level, and I was preparing to leave after my clinic shift when I was talking to a girl and a guy sitting next to her. The girl said, "Get out of here!" Though it might have been a joke, it was a rude one, which was also to indirectly reject and look down at me. I asked, "And how about you?" and she replied, "We are [at the highest level]. I then pointed out that they still had the middle level clinic files, and she said that they just hadn’t finished putting them together to turn in. A few weeks later, I saw that the guy was still at the middle level, and he was still there when I had moved to the highest level. Even worse, he often missed classes and his shifts, so he had nothing to show off. Though I had told both of them about balloon pops in the past, both still dared to blow and help others blow balloons that popped.
Unfortunately, none of the balloon blowers were ashamed or embarrassed over their balloon pops. First, it doesn’t exist in some cultures, and societies have declined. Still, being arrogant is considered unacceptable. With people becoming more arrogant and condescending, the concept of the figurative balloon pop should be taught to decrease it.