I’m in a weird place right now–there aren’t many people in my life I can relate to. But I still want to “fit in,” in the sense that I don’t want to stand out (rather than actually wanting to be part of the group). When I talk to people, I keep my responses minimal, or I make stuff up. I pretend to have a more active social life and bigger social network, e.g. if I’m talking about something that happened I’ll say “My friend did this” instead of “Some random person I used to barely know did this,” because I don’t want people to think I have no friends. I also don’t usually show people my weird sense of humor until I know them really well. It tends to get misinterpreted, and then I look like a jerk, so I think I’m better off keeping my jokes to myself.
I don’t wear camo shorts and a Slayer t-shirt to meetings at work, even though I’d sometimes really rather.
I wear make-up every so often when I feel like I am invisable. It is amazing how much more I am noticed with it on. Generally I wear my hair up with a t-shirt and jeans, though on those days there is hardly any eye contact, smiles or interaction with other people.
So to feel, I dunno, alive(?), noticed or to “fit in” I guess; I will wear my hair down. Put gel and make it all pretty. Put make up on and go out. On those days I don’t feel so invisable.
I refrain from talking to myself when I’m in the company of others.
It’s not that I’m nuts, I just chatter to myself when I’m alone, to sort out thoughts, to help me remember tasks, etc.
I would probably talk more but it seems as though what’s on my mind is the last thing people would expect. Therefore, when I open my mouth, people stare at me like I have a dildo coming out of my forehead. It’s a useful trait when I want to be left alone, however. 
It’s more like what I DON’T do, which is to say what I really think. Otherwise, damned little.
I pretty much keep to myself in order to fit in.
I work in an office with 7 white males beween the ages of 35 to 50 who were all born and raised in Minnesota and will all die in Minnesota. They are all staunch conservatives who mumble everyday about damn liberals, damn Clinton, damn Obama, damn taxes, damn immigrants, etc. etc.
They must think that just because I’m a 38 year-old white male I must agree with everything they bitch about.
Rather than make waves I just keep it to myself.
You go boy! That’s pretty much what I do. Unless it gets racial or nasty(women). It’s saves a lot of confrontations. I just try to remember they all have mommies that love them, things like that.
I wear a bra in public, but never at home. I wear make-up only if I’m going out at night, never at home or to do errands. I won’t wear pantyhose again even if you paid me.
However, I do enjoy stirring things up in conversation, probably just to keep myself awake and interested. I know I don’t fit in when I roll out the double-entendres and innuendos, but I enjoy the adrenaline rush of being inappropriate.
All of which might explain why I’m single.
I want to change my answer to this. I don’t say what I’m really thinking about 99% of the day at work. Most of what I’m thinking is, “Shut up. Shutupshutupshutup.” or “Do it your own damned self - what, are your arms painted on?” or “You know, if you actually used your brain, you might be aware that that is one of the stupidest things anyone has ever said.”
I’ve given up on all this “fitting in” crap. It’s never helped me in any way; My attempts have usually ended in embarrassment and failure; I am awkward and uncomfortable while doing it, because it’s something I don’t like or understand.
Generally, it’s easier to just be myself and suffer the consequences. Why spend such a brief lifetime being stressed and miserable, when you can be relaxed and considered a weirdo.
My only issue is that in not fitting in, I’m alone.
I listen to people, and spend the time just being myself. Seems to work.
You might just be my soul-mate.
Show some interest in coworkers lives.
Pretty much the same here.
I don’t bend over to fit in. I live my life the way I want.
At work I do my job. That is what I am there for. I don’t think there is one person there that knows me very well. They know I work hard, they can count on me, I am highly diversified (read" Jane of all trades) and my BF makes a mean sausage gravy. If you smoke then you know I have a sarcastic sense of humor and I have a lot of cats. Other than that they don’t know shit about me and I like it that way.
I have not warn makeup for years to the point if someone dies and I feel I must attend their funeral, I might have to buy some or borrow my daughters. I go to the store wearing sweat pants, a baggy hoodie, my hair pulled back with a clip and if I can get way with it, no bra.
There is not one thing I own that is considered in any way a style or in fashion.
I am at a point in my life that I don’t play “the game” anymore. I don’t care if people love me or even like me.
I do however respect others and want the same in return. I try not to judge or gossip but even on my best days that can be a trying task.
It is strange mix. The older I get the more willing I am to except new ideas or ways of life . To each his own and all that crap as long as you leave me out of it.
I take care of my flower bed in the front yard.
I really wanted to just make that area all grass when I moved in, but my neighbor raced over and told me she would make a nice flower bed for me - put the plants in and everything.
Now, it does look great but I would really rather be lazy and just not have anything but grass there. But in our neighborhood, everyone has some sort of front yard landscaping. So I dutifully mulch my bed every year and spend summer evenings pulling weeds and “dead-heading” my plants. I also keep my lawn neatly mowed - but pretty much so my house doesn’t stick out like a sore, ugly thumb.
I wear clothes in public and I respond when I’m spoken to. Other than that, next to nothing.
I refrain from talking to myself, wear headphones so no one has to listen to the Ramones but me, and refrain from wearing my anime T-shirts to work, though I did put my work ID on the “Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex” lanyard I received with my Anime Expo '07 badge. It still stands out among all the Jesus Saves lanyards my coworkers wear, but at least it’s black. Also I dress rather conservatively when at work and family events; you should see my collection of sweater sets. I’m still the local weirdo at work, as well as the family eccentric. Go figure.
I suppose wearing a shirt and tie for work is about fitting in. Apart from at one school, it’s not expected, but it’s useful when dealing with staff & children I don’t know well if I visually fit into a presentable and serious sterotype. This being despite the dearth of male teachers at some schools, which means I don’t have anything to fit in alongside and could actually wear just about anything.
Other than that, I can’t think of much. I’m not particularly fashion concious, my hair is cut for convenience (i.e. buzzed all over) than style. I know people who would rather die than sit alone in a restaurant, with or without a book or newspaper to read, and I just don’t see the problem. I’ll drink what I want, although now I’m closing in on 30 nobody bats an eyelid anymore when I get picky about cask ales.
An exceptiong is when I was replacing my car a year ago, when I did rule out a lot of models straight away on the grounds that they’re just too ‘girly’, irrespective of any other factors. The European small car market is definitely biased that way, I’m sure!
I find that my “fitting in” is less about not rocking the boat and more about trying to maintain a sense of mutual respect with others. Coworkers and fellow students might think I’m eccentric or quirky, but they know I try to respect their views, and they try to respect mine as well.
I try to keep morbid and sarcastic humor to a minimum, unless someone knows me well-- too much risk of accidental insult and hurt feelings. I’ve been learning to keep from jumping into conversations with bits o’ knowledge (admit it-- you too know lots of random things and have that urge to share when friends or acquaintances are talking about that subject…), as people don’t often interpret that intrusion as “helpful” so much as it is showing-off/being a know-it-all. I dress well for interviews and formal affairs to show respect for the dignity of the situation.
In other ways, instead of conforming to fit in, I get others to conform. Over the last couple of years, I’ve found that people really pick up on food-- others’ diets, eating habits, etc.-- as indicators of another’s personality. At my very food-conservative work, many of my coworkers only interact with me during lunch break, and I’d gotten a bad reputation simply by being the weird vegetarian guy who ate crazy/smelly foreign foods and used chopsticks a lot.
I’ve gotten many of my coworkers to now look forward to lunch with me: I brought in enough food for several people, and got a few of the more adventurous coworkers to try some. They agreed that it was okay (or at least not bad), which encouraged others to try it out. I’ve converted a lot of them to like trying new and unusual foods; even nasty food is fun to try once, and everyone now brings in strange things they’ve found or cooked up. “Oh, this is nasty! Try it!” I’ve gone from being the weird vegetarian/ethnic-food/chopstick guy to being normal… not by conforming, but by getting everyone else to follow along. (It does make initiating new hires or management teams rather weird, though. Passing around pumpkin-spice cheese spread, bottles of Malta India, lemongrass tofu noodles, soap-flavored gum and chili-powder lollipops made a few guys wonder last week if they’d picked the right place to work.)
Wear a bra while working in the hospital/clinic. It’s not so much that I care about fitting in. It’s that the people I work with are grading me partly on “professionalism”.