The Asshole Rating Self-Exam (or ARSE) appears in The No Asshole Rule at the end of Chapter 4. It actually isn't called that in the book, it is just described as "Self-Test: Are You a Certified Asshole?" But Guy Kawasaki got a hold of it right after the book was published and the great people at Electric Pulp put in a format that works well on the web — and Guy came up with the ARSE acronym (His capacity for fun language never ceases to me amaze me). So many people have taken the ARSE that several times a year, someone I never met will walk up to me and introduce themselves with a number ("Hi, I am Sandy, and I am a 1, I am really a very nice person" or …. "Hi, I am Phil and I am a 9, so I am a borderline certified asshole.")
The ARSE seems to be going strong. I just got an email from Emily at Electric Pulp who tells me that it has now passed 210,000 completions (213, 659, with an average score of 7.09 — indicating the average test taker is a borderline certified asshole or has sued it to identify one). I still take it now and then for myself, and my score fluctuates between a 2 and 7, depending on my mood. And I confess that when I am dealing with an asshole, I will take it on his or her "behalf." I once completed it for a certain unnamed colleague, and I scored him a 17 on the test (indicating a "full-blown certified asshole.") No wonder I feel sick whenever I have to deal with him.
P.S. Emily also reports that the ACHE — the Asshole Client from Hell Exam — is up to 12, 472 completions.
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