Clever

“Someone has to tell the president it's not clever to be seen trying to be clever."

-- George Will commenting on the Fox News over the President, 6 Nov 2013

There are roughly four categories of clever people....at least by my humble opinion.  Folks from Bama....after a number of years....start to classify this kind of stuff, and readily identify folks falling into one of these four categories.

First, there's the clever guy who has a thousand gadgets in the garage, work-shop, house, or farm.  He's always looking for the easier way to get things done.  He wants a tool for every single job.  He desires a status within the community as Mister Gadget.  Folks go to visit him and get insight over the newest lawn mower, the best hay rake, or this new satellite radio stuff.  The guy is smart, and knows it.

Second, there's the guy who quietly sits through a long-winded fifteen-minute discussion on a problem, then utters a 11-word solution.  Folks sit in amazement at the simplicity of the solution, and how direct his words were.  He's the guy that you could dump all the parts to a 1937 Ford on the ground, and would quietly go to assemble the vehicle without any directions.  This guy never talks about his wit or cleverness....never bragging....never standing up in a crowd.

Third, there's the guy who goes off to college or university....spends four to six years there.....coming back with a university degree....and pretends he actually learned something but hasn't gained a single bit of insight or knowledge.  He's a wannabe clever guy.  He'd like to be seen as smart or clever, but the truth is....he's just a regular guy like most of us.

Finally, the fourth guy.  This is the guy in the suit.....who has some folks around him who seem bright, and thus the suited guy pretends he is clever.  The suited guy has zero cleverness in himself.  If you threw some lego bricks on the ground and asked him to assemble them....he'd ask you for the plan or ask if he can bring in his crew.  The suited guy always lays claim to cleverness, but can never explain anything in detail....it's mostly some $9 words, mentioned over and over, and he acts like you'd never understand what he and his crew did.  The suited guy tends to always talk about the future, and some clever act of accomplishment coming up.  If you asked the suited guy about clever accomplishments in the past....it'd be a limited list to brag about.  The suited guy works for some church, some company, some store, or some government office.  He's clever about acting clever.....but beyond that....he just isn't clever.

Bama folks aren't world renown for anything much....except for NCAA football, gospel music, hunting, fishing, and common sense.  We have produced a bunch of clever guys.....but since there's four categories....we are careful not to brag over our winners and losers of cleverness.