My dad was born to subsistence farmers and grew up miserably poor. He immigrated to America in his 20s and worked like a dog to become the lowest engineer on the totem pole for the rest of his life. He is incredibly book smart, but not street smart at all. He holds everyone to his standards, and anyone that doesn't meet them is automatically garbage in his eyes. He knows how to conduct himself in public, and others likely see him as a stubborn and introverted man who is polite, yet distant. He believed in company loyalty and refused to change companies for a higher salary for the longest time. In return, he either stagnated in his position or got laid off.
He did everything "right" by his own standards. He had skill (objectively, he is genuinely very, very book smart) and a solid work ethic. He never lied, never cheated, never stole. He also never kissed ass, never cut corners, and never embellished his achievements. He never drank and never flirted, because he abhorred drugs and never cheated on his wife. He worked ungodly hours, played by the rules, and trusted his superiors to discern talent from sycophancy.
That obviously never happened. By his own standards, he was better than everyone else around him, so what went wrong?
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