Be a Master of One-Upmanship

Friends are going to be there through the good times and the bad times, share laughter and even painful times together, and not always out to outdo one another. I do realize and understand that sometimes things like this can be jokes, and can be part of a friendship, but that all depends entirely on the situation and the friend.

if you use it to make people feel like losers

Oh, yeah? Well, this one time . . . yeah, we all know/knew someone like that. It's one thing to have some friendly one-up contests, it's another to make up fake stories because you think people would like you more. Well, they don't.

Some relationships are based on competition and games of one-upmanship may be part of it. However that isn't a relationship you should rely on during the tough times. Folks like this have a bloated ego, something that I can't stand.

The first of a myriad of things that made me realize how exasperating my boss is. So, I guess you could say this is a tried and true method for me since, my fondest hope is to someday walk away from this job and, with any luck, never lay eyes on his unscrupulous face or listen to one of his boring stories again.

Not much you can do about those are obsessed with always having to be better no matter what. Everything they own is better and more expensive. they are always smarter and better at everything they do. I usually just glaze over while they boast and feel a it sympathetic to them. it must be exhausting always having to be best.

If your friend tries to best you or in everything or brag about themselves it can get very annoying because it seems like they're trying to make you feel inferior but it's human nature. One-upmanship will eventually make you a loner because your friends will eventually get tired of listening to how good you are.

Friendship is not a competition, and anyone who tries to make it one will ultimately end up with no friends.

Man, this is one of my biggest social peeves ever. If someone is telling you about something traumatic they went through, for the love of God DON'T one-up them with a story of what you went through that was worse. People who do this ought to be put in the stocks (and then forbidden--on pain of death--to tell about it).

It's human nature to brag about one's accomplishments. The polite thing to do is to listen appreciatively. But who has time to listen? If someone brags about his glory days as quarterback for his high school football team, be sure to point out that you scored the winning touchdown for your team in the State Championship. Emphasize this point, although back in your glory days, you may have been a pencil-necked geek.