1. Serial Boasters
(With special focus on those who brag on social media) Who among us has been able to resist casually slipping in the fact that we trekked in outer Mongolia/sat next to somebody famous/got a promotion? There is the garden variety boasting the harmless kind we all indulge in from time to time. But then there is your serial boaster whose epic boasting is likely to irritate you instantly. Every conversation is an excuse for them to show off- there you are harmlessly discussing the weather with xyz at a party when your serial boaster cuts in (abruptly) and takes off on the last time he/she wasin Rashtrapati Bhavan lunching with the Prime Minister.
This category has benefitted hugely from social media. Photos of beach vacations, swanky parties and celeb “friends” are part of the now accepted subtle bragging on social media – their Facebook newsfeed is clogged with incredibly glamorous locales; outlandish activities, maybe new-age scuba diving and what not. This set doesn’t seem to have any chubby dowdy relatives “friending” them and even their selfies look like they were professionally shot. They make the rest of us feel miserable about our unglamorous selves – needless to say, “best avoided”.