Number 5: During Travel.
Travel shatters a narcissist’s illusion of control. Delays, queues, and rules they cannot bend strip away their composure. Airports and hotels reveal their entitlement in its purest form. They abuse staff, snap at you, and act as if the entire universe owes them a smooth ride. Travel does not just inconvenience them; it exposes their deepest fear, which is that they are powerless in a world far too big for them to control. You must notice their ritual: they refuse to read instructions, arrive late, and then blame you. They pick a fight at the gate to ruin the trip before it begins. They sulk through sightseeing, then suddenly brighten when a stranger compliments them. At check-in, they charm a manager for upgrades while treating you with contempt. On day two, they often create a meltdown that becomes the headline of the whole journey. The destination does not matter; the real itinerary is dominance. That’s what it is.
Related: 6 Weird Hygiene Habits of a Narcissist.
Number 6: Technology Failures
When technology fails them—a phone dying, Wi-Fi dropping, or a laptop crashing—these are small inconveniences for most people. But to a narcissist, my god, their ego dies. Their rage quickly erupts when technology does not obey them. Devices are their lifeline to attention, power, control, and validation. When that line breaks, they spiral without a sense of control. They’re forced to face their own failures, a sense of defeat, and that terrifies them more than anything.
When something goes wrong, what do they do? They throw accusations at you or the nearest person who can be blamed. My father would do it all the time; a small glitch in his device, and he would literally maul me. He would put his fingers and scratch through my face, beat me up—basically abuse me—because in his delusional world, I was always the culprit. I must have done something to his laptop, which is why it’s not working properly, that’s what he would say.
So, they demand instant rescue as if you are their personal technician. That’s what he did. That’s what he commanded. That’s what he demanded from me. He wanted me to fix it somehow, and he would give me an ultimatum: “You have 30 minutes or when no one is watching.” The tantrum gets louder. When their online image is interrupted, their offline cruelty spikes. The outage does not create their rage; it unmasks it.
A Book: Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men.
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