So, i’m in my english class. Nothing much is going on, we’re in a pause between finishing what we’re doing and getting started on something else. I have nothing to do, and walk slowly towards the back of the class, quietly humming a little tune. I see posted on the wall the district’s dress code policy, and start reading it. My hand needs something to do, and there is a pencil sharpener directly in front of me. My right hand finds its way to the handle, which it slowly turns.
For a minute, look at me from the outside. A guy is quietly humming, staring at the wall, and turning a pencil sharpener’s handle with no pencil.
loop for about thirty seconds. I realize that the class is eerily quiet… I turn around and everyone is looking at me.
The silence turns to laughter as I walk, embarrassed, (but still laughing at myself) back to my desk.
“Jeffrey, you truly dance to the beat of a different drummer.”
Has anybody else done something that… ‘hey, it’s not as weird as it looks!’
Not quite the same thing, but because I’m a belly dancer, I often do little snippets of moves unconsciously - a wrist circle, a couple of rib drops, hip shimmies. In public. I got caught at least once by a co-worker in the convenience store in our office building.
HA! different drummer? try different parade. (A punk parade, perhaps)
in my school i’m one of 8 peeps with artificial hair color–the other seven are box blondes, whereas i’m a vibrant shade of neon red. that alone sets me off as a weirdo. also i’m chubby in a school full of skinny people.
and then there’s my clothes…i wear things with a random appreciation for matching and/or current style, which earmarks me as a freak.
in addition to that, not only am i a freak, i’m also into art, making me a ‘weird art chick.’ Plus, i’m into philosophy so i’m considered ‘dangerous’ (presumably because i think for myself)
those people who manage to work their way past these barriers find i have a zany sense of humor and a penchant for mischief…those are the ones i hang with.
i think it’s the best way to be…i wouldn’t have it any other way. you should see the looks on the normal kids’ faces when i quote Sartre at them…
Oh, I’ve got lots of stories like that. I’d share, but fortunetly I’ve repressed them all. BTW, special award for Most Different Spelling of the Word Different to the thread title.
