I'll just take this time to say I admire your laidbackness. It can be infuriating at times, but I much prefer it to the alternative... which, as you say, is more the rule than the exception.

Reminds me of a part of the Tao Te Ching I read a long time ago... before lunch, in fact:
When you are content to be simply yourself
and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.

The opposite is true as well; when not content to be oneself, when always comparing and competing, one will have the respect of no-one.