The fine line

"It's a fine line between clever and stupid, really."
-Nigel Tufnel

Reality is a bit of a cheating whore. We think it's one thing, we have a good grasp of the situation and everything is hunky dory, and eventually we're shocked to discover that reality has been fucking the pool boy, the mailman, your best friend and your father, and it's all been documented on everyoneyouknowisfuckingyourgirl.com
Not that I have first hand experience with any of that, mind you. Masturbation is evil, and it makes the invisible space sheriff hate you, so don't do it, kids.
ANYHOO. We lead ourselves to believe we have a good grasp on the objective state of our lives, because we are constantly making ourselves forget that we are only capable of maintaining a subjective perspective. It's a kind of meta/zen Catch 22. The only way we can maintain a proper 'outside' view of life is by being aware that we are limited to our narrow 'inside' view. I'm pretty sure this is what the Matrix was all about, except I have worse kung fu and better writing.
So what happens when your life gets flip turned upside down? Unfortunately, the odds of such an event resulting in us becoming the Prince of a town called Bel Air are pretty slim. Usually, I just get a weird sense of vertigo. Not the physical variety, but again, a more metaphysical sort. I was so focused on point A, that I neglected to notice that points B-Z are no longer where I thought they were. My compass is not just thrown off, it's spinning wildly after having been eaten by a magnetic bear (I imagine this is what will happen to Polar Bears confused by global warming).
Back to perspective.
The problem with subjective reality is that it's one unique snowflake against 6 billion others. We all have opinions, we all have assholes, and guess what? Most of them stink (except for porn stars: their bleached anuses (anni?) and advanced degress in the arts make them unique exceptions to this rule). So how do we resolve this endless struggle to maintain our balance when the whole world is throwing us off?
I dunno. Drugs? Booze? Youtube videos of sleepwalking dogs running into walls?
The fact is, the great question isn't 'who am I?' It's 'Am I who I think I am?' And if not, who? Because every person who has ever met your has sized you up and judged you based on limited interaction. And I hate to tell you this, but that look on their faces? It ain't cuz they smell roses...