nor·mal (nôr‘məl)
adj.

1. Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical: normal room temperature; one’s normal weight; normal diplomatic relations. 

n.

1. Something normal; the standard: scored close to the normal.
2. The usual or expected state, form, amount, or degree.

Haven’t blogged in a while, guess I’ve been kind of busy.  I’m going to talk about normal vs. weird or out of the ordinary things, lifestyles, etc…  What is normal?  Who defines what the norm is in a situation and what something “strange” is.  I myself and many of my friends have hobbies that are considered weird by others, such as gaming, miniatures, etc… But who defines this as “weird?”  I think it comes down to the majority to be honest with you.  It seems like if the majority of the people don’t do it, it’s strange.  Society is like that overall too.  Some people base the type of music they like based on what’s popular.  Or another great example, the hot football teams.  There are so many Pittsburgh Steeler fans right now it’s not even funny, and that’s simply because they won the Superbowl in January.

Then you have people that are all the way on the other side of the spectrum.  I have a friend that is anti-everything.  He won’t do anything simply because it’s what everyone is doing.  Anything he considers “pop-culture” is out and whether it’s good or not, he won’t participate in it.  That to me is a little to extreme.  I think the world needs to be more individualistic, if that makes sense?  Not saying I’m a prime example of this, but my favorite band is one that probably less than 10% of the people that read this have probably never heard this.  Do I like them because of that?  Nope, I like them because they sound good, and it fits my taste.

As one of the above statement says, “the standard”  Well isn’t that basically the same thing?  The standard is what’s normal.  So who’s setting these?  That definition just doesn’t sum it up for me.  Who is normal?  Who can say that they conform to exactly what society calls “the standard?”  Is getting up, going to work or school every day, telling your family bye, having a normal day at work, coming home, eating supper, going to bed, and repeating for your life, is that normal?  Is that what defines a normal person?  To me that’s more like a boring person.  No one is normal in my opinion.  Be yourself and be glad that you’re different, that is my opinion on the matter.

Thought about posting on one of the topics in the upcoming post category, but I don’t feel like doing that tonight, so how about some general rants/discussion?  I don’t even know about the category, so I’ll just type and try to categorize after I get done.  So what is the deal with the world?  Everything seems to be getting more typical and predictable.  I go to work, get off, come home, do the same stuff over and over.  People just have become so predictable and cliche.  It really sickens me.  I just get tired of those predicted, ridiculous jokes.  I’m growing restless, I really am.  I’ve said that before, but it’s become worse in the last week.  I want to travel.  I want to get a job where nothing is predictable, and the world is ahead of me.  I like the thought of being on the go, staying in hotels, not knowing where I’ll be going next.  That excites me.  The norm is killing me. 

Do you ever feel like you are one of the only sane people on the earth?  I get so tired of dealing with illiterate people.  When I go somewhere it seems like I can just almost predict what’s going to happen, or when I send a message or talk to someone, I know what they are going to say or how they are going to respond, so I’m basing my decisions on asking them or telling them something based on how I want to make them feel.  I know that’s complicated, but read it twice and it will make sense.  The sad thing is, most people don’t do anything about it.  Ever seen the movie office space?  I know how that guy feels now.  I just feel like there is so much more out here, and I’m tired of feeling like I’m held back.  I want more, I want to make money, be successful, have a great family.  I woke up this morning and thought, “Dang, I’m 21 and I have no idea what I want to do with my life.”  I mean sure I have a job, I work.  I get up, go to work, tap my foot until the weekend, do so called fun stuff, and rinse and repeat.  I’m so tired of cliche stuff I could just throw up. 

I absolutely hate walking around on friday at work or at the store or something and someone saying, “So glad it’s friday!” or “Alright the weekends here!”  Just makes me sick!  Or people that feel they have to say something, and you pass by them the first time and say, “Nice day eh?” Then later that day you may pass them again and you’re thinking to yourself, “Oh crap, I’ve already mentioned that it’s a nice day, should I think of something else to say or just ignore him?”  Ahh!  Stereotypical stuff!  I’ve got to do something more exciting.

Stereotypes that people place on others really bother me.  Once someone has an idea or assumption about a person, even though it may not be true, they are stamped.  They are branded, and that really bothers me.  I’ll give you an example:  I started working at a place called KC’s restaurant about six years ago.  I remember the first day I went to work, my co-worker, Adam, which was the boss’s son, did not like me at all.  For the first two weeks I worked there, Adam had a vendetta against me, and it was so obvious to me.  Well there wasn’t anything I could do about it really, I mean I couldn’t confront him about it, because he was the bosses son, I mean come on, you know the boss would always side with the other person.  Well, I didn’t do anything but be myself to him, and then after two weeks he opened up a lot, and we became really good friends.  Just a side note, I really mean friends; I don’t just mean an acquaintance.  We would hang out away from work, go do things, etc… And I finally got comfortable enough around him to ask him why he treated me like he did.  And I’ll never forget what he said.  He said, “To be honest with you, I thought you were a spoiled little rich boy, since your dad runs a business, and you brought your own apron with you the first day of work (which I did, but I just assumed they wouldn’t have any yet, which they didn’t),” Well, I’m not rich, and I’m not spoiled (no more than any other American anyway)

So if you look at this situation, what did Adam do?  He took a fairly decent person, branded him, and blew him off.  Most people wouldn’t respond to Adam as I did.  Most people would blow him off and just think that he’s a jerk.  Well I didn’t do that; I gave him the benefit of the doubt.  Not saying that I’m anything special by doing that, but that’s just me.  I would have stereotyped him if I’d have called him a jerk, and we never would have hung out, and it would have changed my life completely.

Another point I want to add in.  I know some people that base their opinions completely off what other people say, and have the nerve to go and claim that someone is doing something to them, (i.e. dislikes them, stalking them, following them, hating them) when in all reality they have no idea whether that is true or not.  They may base it on the opinion of others, for example what their friends said about the person.  How can you form an opinion of someone that you don’t even know or have never met?  That is beyond me, but that’s the world for you.