Perfect ACT Scores and the Smashing of Faces

So I read this article in the bathroom about the seven metrotroiters that got a 36 on the ACT. Six of them looked like pretty normal kids, if not a little dorky because they're smart.

Well they asked for tips that these kids had for other ACT-takers...and the 7th's tip is: "Don't forget your calculator. I forgot mine and had to do all the math in my head!"
I want to punch that kid. And looking at his picture, you know you want to punch him before you even meet him.

First off, and obviously, his tip sucks. Second, and most importantly, you know he was saying that to point out the fact that he did it without a calculator, and you know he points that out to all the other kids who also want to punch him.

He is an opposite of, but also very similar to, the cool kids who think that you don't like them because you're jealous of them. Now I don't care about the fact that deep down, different people are jealous of different people because of coolness, looks, smarts, athleticism, etc. That is true, but the fact is that this kid, even if he didn't have one special or outstanding quality about him, you'd still want to knock him out. Except that you probably wouldn't because you pity him.

The true disaster is that at least some minority of people on this scale of annoyingness inevitably also are very smart or very "cool" or really really good-looking. And then they have followers or emulators who join in and help to make the world a worser place by being aloof and assuming you don't like them because you're not {blank} enough. If you punched them in the face, you would just help prove their point that you're jealous, but the truth is, you just really don't think their face deserves to go unpunched.