You know the type. They’re the people who got three hours of sleep last night when you got four. They have two papers and project due today when you only have two papers due. If you have a headache, they have the flu.

I have to deal with a couple of these people on a regular basis. They’re not necessarily my friends, but they are in my classes and friends of my friends. A typical interaction usually starts like this:

John: Hey, how are you doing?
Me: I’m doing all right, kinda tired.
John: Oh yeah? I was up until four writing papers.
Me: Oh…

Usually, after this, I just kind of stop responding when they have to have these little competitions with me. Last night, I snapped at one of the people who does this on a regular basis. Basically, i told him that I was in no mood for his competition about who had more sleep because I had an awful headache and my head was about to explode. He responded by telling me about his flu-like symptoms.

How do you deal with people like this? It drives me up a wall when I can’t make any comment without someone trying to upstage me at every turn.