... if they'd just said "Nah, you're pretty normal". But most average?? I think not. It's not that I consider myself to be some kind of Andy Warhol level weirdo, or incredible individualist, but I do think I deviate from the norm to some degree.
Certainly, when I was in high school I was a complete weirdo. In my high school, you had two choices: Belong to a clique, or not exist. I valued independent thought, so I chose the latter option. Most of the kids who "rebelled" simply chose to conform to a different standard. I didn't think that hanging out behind the school and smoking pot was a particularly cool or intelligent thing to do. At the same time I had no desire to be in student government. I worked just hard enough to get good grades, purely out of ego--I knew I was smart enough. I didn't particularly give a shit about academic competition, though. If I was interested, I paid attention and learned something. If I wasn't, I went to sleep. Literally. I snoozed my way through physics. Given the quality of teaching in that class, though, I may not have been any worse off. :-) I simply learned enough from the textbook to pass the exams. The Physics Regents was the last high school exam I ever took. I knew I could fail it and still graduate--I'd probably still pass the course, for that matter. I still managed 82% (pass = 65%).
Certainly, by the standards of that time and place, I was beyond not-normal, I was in Freak Land. I had no interest in gossiping on the phone, hanging out at the mall, giggling at boys, going to parties, etc.
As you get older, people's horizons expand a bit, and I think I'm a little closer to normal than I used to be. Still, I'd dispute the "most average" part. If I were truly average, I'd be listening to chart music, know what was in style, and voluntarily watched multiple episodes of a reality series. Instead, I'm watching things with men in drag. And I'm a straight woman!
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alexist at 09:42am on 14/04/2003