In what way do you differ from the norm?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

We are a very variable species, but I am wondering in what ways do our members vary from the norms of their society. I am not talking about gender, age, politics, hair color, education level or who you choose to love…not that those are unimportant, but hopefully we can look at ourselves in a more general way.

For example, I really haven’t given money the same attention that most folks in our society have allocated to it. My career and lifestyle has been about following my interests and contributing to community rather than choosing to make as much money as possible. So I avoided the corporate world for scientific research and teaching. My “hobbies” have had the potential for high financial reward, but I use them to support worthy causes. This isn’t because I am a saint, but rather because if I were to look for financial rewards for my hobbies and research I would inevitably become tied into meeting the demands of the marketplace and would loose the freedom of doing what I want to do.

So in a sense I have been selfish by divorcing myself from the marketplace and following my own interest, but the tradeoff is worth it because I don’t value money as much as my fulfillment in my involvement with my own interests.

Of course, I have had the luxury of being comfortable and not having to worry about finances to any appreciable degree. So I have given up high financial rewards for personal satisfaction, and feel very lucky to have been able to earn a good living in spite of my inattention to money.

So how are you different?

2

I am an outlier in every imaginable way.

3

For one thing, my name isn’t Norm.

(I’ll see myself out)

4

What’s the norm, again?

I don’t have a cellphone.
I don’t subscribe to any streaming service.
I don’t have any expenses automatically deducted from my bank account at all.

But then again, what percentage of humanity is in developing countries, again? Maybe this is the norm.

5

I am eruditer than them.

6

I have been to developing countries, in some of the places you’d least expect to find people with decent telecommunications. And yet in the shanty towns of India and the provincial factories of North Korea, I saw plenty of locals gabbing away on their cell phones.

(FWIW, I didn’t have a cell phone myself until my employer obliged me to purchase one, at their expense, about twelve years ago. It’s still the only one I have, is rarely used, and isn’t capable of connecting to the Internet. So I guess I also differ from the norm in a similar, albeit less extreme, way as you.)

7

At the supermarket, I park my cart at the end of the aisle, then walk and up and down the aisles until my arms are full, dump the stuff in the cart, and move it down a few aisles. Not because I’m a saint, it’s just faster.

8

I still mail paper checks for a lot of my bills.

I still mail physical, multi-page, handwritten letters to some of my friends and family.

I am paying off the mortgage of my home early.

I have inherited so many cats, I have become the dictionary’s archetype of “Crazy Cat Dude.”

Tripler
OED called me up; I learned that four is the magic number.