Average Americans
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @SaintPepsi
Being nerds, most of us probably didn't have a great time in high-school. Some of us didn't have that good of a time in college I'm sure. Always picked on because we were different than everyone else around us. I know I was. I kinda lucked out being a monstrous man though. It's harder to pick on people that are bigger than you. At least you think twice about it. Still words sting more than any actions. No, I didn't plot the untimely demise of any of my classmates, I was never so jaded to do that nonsense. I certainly stood out from the crowd though.
I remember making such fashion mistakes as wearing a silk shirt with sweat pants in Jr. High. Doesn't get you points with the ladies, but how was I to know. I just wanted to be comfortable. So we mingle with the rejected of our kind. The fat kids, the other nerds, and the just plain weird. Seems social norms tried boxing everyone into some kind of group. In high-school I found a place among the skater kids. Another easy place to avoid attack. You don't want to piss off someone who always has a 3 foot long piece of plywood in their hands. We played hackysack out side for lunch and had our own social meeting grounds. High-school seemed a better fit for me. I still stuck out like a sore thumb. Not only being epic in size, I tended to dye my hair a different color every two weeks. In general in a class of 32 people I was the one everyone still remembers to this day. Still people like me got made fun of for all kinds of weird reason, and the smart kids got made fun of for exceeding where the socialites failed. Seemed being cool meant good lucking and mediocre. You're average American.
Recently, I heard that the movie Inception was too smart for Americans. I went and saw it. A beautifully crafted narrative with multiple stories running simultaneously. I came out from it ecstatic with wonder and awe at the world that had been created. I questioned the reality of my own perceived realm. The guys that sat behind me however, sat up and said well that was a waste of money and walked off complaining that they didn't get what happened and it was to slow and long. Average Americans... the popular kids for sure. We are not average people we are the movers and the shakers. We are the great titans stirring this pot of life and keeping it interesting. The color in a monotone world.
Off to college I was even more excited to get away from that small town of judgmental social groups. Only to land in one of the largest I had even never known about. I went to a Christian college because at that time I wanted to be a minister. Soon even there in a bigger town I was out on the fringe again for hanging out with sinners and pagans. I know! It's a scary thought. Even scarier for the kids at my dorm who had to cower in fear as these frightening creatures all dressed in black with their white eyes walked through our hallowed hallways to hang out with me. I guess I never really fit in with that crowd either. So feeling properly ostracized at that college I found my friends still in the socialite rejects in my town. Anyone who was so far from the norm that they were a breath of fresh air.
Later I began to hang out with those in the theater department. While this brought with it a significant amount of drama, it was never dull. I realized that these people acting here on stage would go on to be the actors of legend revered by all on cinema screens. Portraying the very people the popular crowds try to be. The rejected and made fun of kids would go on to be multi-millionaires. The super smart kids would go on to... well literally rule the world. Why do you think there are so many movies about being a down trodden kid and then becoming the most popular guy in school or getting revenge on the school popular kids. It's not because it sells or that it's what Average Americans want to see. It's because those people writing those stories were those downtrodden kids hoping for just one chance to be treated like everyone else at school. For one chance to date the prettiest girl in class.
After college was when I truly found myself. I embraced my art and my inner freak. I decided it's not worth it trying to be like everyone else. Look the same, walk the same, and talk the same. Standing out was just who I was. I surrounded myself with others not so like minded as me, for we all had our own ideas and beliefs. To this day when I tell tales of friends of mine to the normal folk round here they grimace knowing full well that those people I hang out with are “bad influences” on me. Hardly, I say! If it wasn't for people that stand out, where would we be? People that stand out make a difference. So now yeah I mingle with strippers and porn stars, I drink with hipsters at the bar, and play video games with my friends when I should be productive. None of these things make me a bad person because I only judge people when they are not doing something to make their life more enjoyable. I judge people when they can easily take that step forward and make their own difference; but stop for fear what others will think. For all others I refuse to judge because it's not my place to tell them what they believe and what they are doing is crazy. Crazy may just be the next step our worlds future needs.
As my 10 year class reunion comes up in a few weeks I wonder just what will I say? What will I say to the people that acted like I would never leave that town because I had nowhere to go and fit in? I'll look them right in the eye and tell them that my dreams are coming true and I'm knocking down life goals like they were dominoes. Sure, I'm not trapped in a family I thought I had to have with my high-school sweetheart. Maybe that's something easily appreciated by Average Americans. I couldn't tell ya I never was average. I am making a difference for myself and for my friends. Through their differences we all are achieving great things. So feel free to live vicariously though me now. I guarantee it will be more interesting and make you question why you haven't taken steps of your own towards your dreams.
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