Great story. During my life I've found that assholes of the narcissistic kind have fears or insecurities that clash with their bravado posturing (e.g., a primal fear of dogs, flying, paranoia of being talked about behind their back, cheated on, moving away from their hometown, being seen as bad dressers -- those are the ones I remember). I have always found this odd. I know nothing about psychology, but maybe there's a correlation there?