Of Social Significance

There are only a number of things that are easier than talking. Breathing is one thing. Talking shit is another. The easiest thing to say is "No, that is not right", and/or "I can get a better deal than that".
The hard part being to actually back up what you claim. And ofcourse the hardest part being to actually change your addressee's opinion.

This is not the best example, as it does not really illustrate what I want to say. However, I thought a real occurance is much better/clearer than an imaginery situation, even if it just faintly touches on the subject. From yesterday:

We were all in the dowaneya for melchat ekhti, just finished having dinner. The 'basherna 3anek', 'shlonkom ba3ad', '3asakom merta7een' have all been used prior. I'm going around with the gahwa o fanayeel and the 'fathers' are discussing the cost of building a home. I get to the guy, let's call him Bo-Ameer, who is talking to my dad, and deliberately fill up il finyaal. Since now we're all one big happy family, I just stood there listening. Every time my dad would say something about our home and the costs, Bo-Ameer (okho niseeby now, who is also a cousin of the family) would say "ghali" or "la yoba ma dawart 3adil". Two things were running through my head: hal Bo-Ameer hatha is either clueless; and/or this guy knows way more about building than my dad does since, apparently, he has 3 homes. Or was it two homes o arth. Something like that, you get the picture. When they got to debating what to do with il masaa7, whether wayh wa7id or wayhain. My father, obo Bo-Ameer and his brother said wayhain. He insisted on the no-need for that, and that wayh wa7id is enough. I was filling finyaal my uncle, and said "etha el bena tejaary, akeed wayh wa7id a7san". I probably should've kept my mouth shut, since the discussion now shifted to what is really necessary, and how 'el q8iyeen fisaq, yasrifon 3al shay o ma ye7tajona'. Fair enough, I thought. A typical gathering of agreement and disagreement.

So I reach Bo-Ameer again, and offer some more coffee, he extends his hand and I take my time placing his finyaal over the others, chakchaka while I fill it (the fair amount - 3ala golat wa7ed mn el rabi3 7azrat el 3arab) so I buy some time and ask him: 3ami tara 7isbat baitna ma3a ilmawad. He didn't agree. My father explained that it's true, i7sab el meter for us is bel meter including mawad. He still didn't approve. Mojarad "?".

Don't get me wrong, I really admired Bo-Ameer. He's definitely someone who I'd want to sit with in the future. Ofcourse, he was trying to look out for his cousin and try to score him the best deal out there.

However, as they talked, my mind drifted searching for the one single time where somebody would say something and NOT be commented on. Negatively, ofcourse. To look at it the other way round, even when Bo-Ameer was talking, a lot of the other men would comment, sometimes make fun. All in good spirit ofcourse.

As for my browsing through the many encounters, I have reached none.
Now that I think of it, I realize that I do it too. And a lot at that.

So a question rises: are we all know-it-alls?