As Woody Allen said, the heart wants what it wants. So, why are you here?

Type A Personality

We were talking about personalities at lunch today, and I commented that "I used to be a complete type-B personality, but now I think I'm becoming more of a type-A personality." Two people at the table immediately chorused, "you're type-A." They knew me well enough to make such a call, and they didn't sound uncertain. It worried me.

After all, no one wants to be a type-A personality. It's almost become code for "uptight prick," which is a level to which I hope I have not decended yet. We all have the same sort of vision of a type-A person:



Nobody wants to be that guy.

Have I become so stressed that I've completely reverted my personality to a type-A, and lost my type-B roots? I used to make fun of people for being type-A, since I was so type-B. I fell asleep in class all the time without shame (now I at least feel shame), never did homework, never worried about anything, and was always the person who was level when everyone else was freaking out about how busy everything is. I mean, c'mon, everyone wants to be a type-B sorta guy:

Look how relaxed he is. He's letting the world come to him, like all the great type-B heroes do: Zonker Harris, and, uh... I can't think of anyone else. 'Cause most go-getters in the world are type-A. This is not necessarily a good thing. After all, you know that Hitler had to have been type-A. I mean, he got up in the morning, got stuff done while all his slacker friends stayed in bed, and boom - there's the Third Reich. Now his lazy buddies have to do jumping jacks for propaganda videos. That'll teach 'em.

Before this post runs to far into dangerous waters, I came up with a few reasons why I really am type-A, and shouldn't feel insulted about it:

1. I'm really only type-A by comparison. I'm in college. Most of the guys that I know spend virtually all of their time playing video games and watching TV. Which I wholeheatedly approve of, but that's not nearly as much my thing as theirs. I spend a whole lot more of my time out of the dorm, talking to people. No one is more in favor of sloth than me, but if I sit for too many hours in front of the TV, I feel like I should be up and doing something. And that should certainly qualify me to be type-A.
2. I'm only type-A about media communication things. And this I fully admit to be true. When it comes to a film project, or a radio promo, or a sound board, I get really worked up about it, and want to make sure that everything is perfect. This is great for my grades and my work, but not so good for my friends, who have deal with me in these sorts of situations.
3. Everyone's a little type-A about some things, and a little type-B about others. My roommate is very protective of certain items, such as the coffee table, or the Playstation 2, and has certain rules about how close food can be in proximity to these items. He goes over his outfits very carefully. And yet he's fully willing to spend an entire evening playing video games without worrying anything else in his life. To me, this is how it should be - sweat somethings if it means a lot to you, and don't worry about the things that don't. And don't worry about what it is that means a lot to you. My roommate knows it's kind of silly to be protective of a Playstation 2 controller, but he is anyway, and so I respect the greasy-hands-free-zone around such areas. I could care less about how someone treats my stuff - I lose so much of my stuff through general carelessness that it doesn't matter anyway. But all my projects have to be perfect. That's the way it is.

However, while searching to find the answer to my completely unnecessary crisis of the spirit (a true type-B person wouldn't care if anyone thought he was type-A), I came across a bold visionary in the world of type-B personalities. He inspired me to forget my type-A ways and seek out my type-B roots. For that, I am indebted to him.

I've decided to test this "type-A" accusation, though, through the most accurate measuring instrument known to man: online quizzing. Stay tuned for results.

posted by Ben Wyman @ 2:40 PM