The KnowItAlls

[TaratronVaeVictus]

So I was at my fave lfs the other day, and ran into a fish depo employee there who, until recently, ran his own cichlid business. He got in tons of rare fish and sold them to various pet stores. However, there's not a huge market for cichlids around here, so he closed down, kept some fish, and went back to work (and get the discounts!) of the pet store.

So we started talking, and about five minutes in, I got that lovely Inferior Complex feeling I get when talking with someone who knows pretty much mountain high and Hell deep about said topic. He asked me a good lot about the zoo I work at, how the tanks were (I take care of 30 max), if there was space for a volunteer there (not really, since a small tank load), and how the new big aquarium was going (I have little to no idea other than progressing). And more talk, him mentioning all the wild fish he's bred and others that have spawned and the like....

Leaving me feeling rather stupid and small. After all, I work at a damn zoo, and have never been able to spawn the piranha there, or the various tetras. The cories are all too young. The frontosa were an accident. I take care of 30 tanks, marine and freshwater, 20 hours a week, and the employee took care of thousands of gallons at once, 24 hours a day. So technically, he is more experienced than I am. But then again, this isn't a "I'm bigger than you" contest save perhaps only to me.

How do the rest of you deal with this, the zoo part aside?

 

[armac]

Why do you have to deal with it, just learn from his experience

 

[MaJiKTeRRoR]

Live and learn. That guy was a professional breeder right? How does the average hobbyist compete with someone who did nothing but breed fish? You don't. Don't base your success on the success of someone else. Use that as inspiration not defeat.

 

[gomezladdams]

I think it would be great to chat with someone with that much exp.To have him as your lfs employee is very fortunate.

 

[MaJiKTeRRoR]

I think it would be great to chat with someone with that much exp.To have him as your lfs employee is very fortunate.

I agree

 

[Miles]

I get people like this all the time.. Alot of times these type of people got into fish just so they could be super-knowledgable about them and feel special. It is an easy way for someone to become accepted in situations they usually wouldn't be. Definately a superiority complex. There is a LFS that is going under due to this sort of complex, and I refuse to even talk to the jerk these days. You will eventually learn to just smile and nod, and give a courtesy laugh.

When I worked at PetSmart, I would always have people try to act like they are fish experts, and they know more then me. They would go on to explain about their super aggressive oscars, or how they bred Neon tetras or some other completely BS story. Little did they know that I was the actual 'Fish guy' there, not to mention was running the import business on the side. Eventually I would clue them in that I am no idiot, and I actually Import wild fish from South America. Often times I would let their rambling come to a hault when they make a super-false statement, just like the one day a guy tried to tell me Discus were brackish..

It happens, you get used to it.. It's hard to avoid in this hobby because their is so much information, hypothesis, and speculation of what is and isn't correct.. Oh well huh! Keep working hard to educate yourself, and the others who are eager to learn.. For those who think they know everything already, they can continue to know it all, because as they say, ignorance is bliss.

 

[ballsmcgee1234]

i agree also, so many employees here in MN have no idea what they are talking about...

 

[TaratronVaeVictus]

It probably all is in my head, but I recall the various looks of "huh" I would get from him, and trust me, I do like this guy, I really hope my good words for him can get him a spot at our big aquarium when it opens, but there seems to be some level of competition almost.

It may just be me.

 

[rweedon]

I had a guy tell me that his Oscar took off the end of his thumb! I then told him that oscars break down food with a type of modified gill and he insisted that they have teeth and can not understand why someone would keep such a dangerous fish!!!

 

[repair]

Give the guy my email I would love to have someone to tell me whats what. If he really is this knowlageable we need him to write some articals for web site.