lord_shade

I am glad to hear that the US has sent aide workers to Iran. It is good to see a nation set aside its concerns and worries about another for the sake of compassion.

I was going to tell you guys about how I was... unique in high school. How about I sum it up with a story? Just be patient, it'll sum up everything real well.

Now, I was different, but I knew my limits. For example, I wore black in high school. Nothing but black. I wanted to try the goth makeup, but I could not. Note, I was living in a small town, and I would be the only goth within a sixty kilometer radius. If I made myself stand out even more, I would have had to endure much worse in high school, so I kept it to myself.

But I was still different. For example, my music tastes. While my peers listened to The Spice Girls and whatever alternative or rap selection was available, I was listening to Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, and... Korn.

Korn is very important to this story. You see, I listened to their first two albums just shortly before they became famous with their third release, "Follow The Leader". I even had a long sleeved Korn shirt (in black, naturally), which I would wear to school every once in awhile.

So I liked Korn before anyone else in my school even heard of them. I was unique. But my classmates did not see this as something normal. They would ask me what Korn was, or snidely make remarks about their name being too closely related to the vegetable. They bashed the band, and made fun of me for my musical choices. Again, I cannot stress this enough. This was before Nu-Metal was popular in my school, much less Korn.

But then 'Follow The Leader' came along. Muchmusic couldn't play Got The Life enough. I eagerly bought the new CD, and played it over and over. I still enjoy it to this day, since the new Korn albums are no substitute for their old material.

Finally, some of the people in my school took an interest in Korn. I saw one of the popular guys listening to Got The Life. I asked him if he really liked the band, knowing well that a few months before he was bashing Korn because I liked it.

His response was, "Yeah. They are the best."

I called him a hypocrite on the spot and stomped off, resulting in me being angry all day and having a whole group of guys looking at me funny, wondering what prompted that outburst. Obviously, they had short memories.

But what can I learn from this? That I was unique, so unique that it was a weakness on my behalf. I used my odd tastes as a badge of honour, and took offense when one would question my tastes in anything. But when I saw that someone else liked what I liked, I didn't mind, and was even curious about it. It was the fact that they discounted what I liked as something aweful because of the fact that I liked it that disturbed me.

It also showed that I was perhaps a bit too defensive, maybe too harsh on people whom offended me. Hence why I had such a hard time in high school.

I was always defensive. Fighting a retort with another, when a witty comeback should have been the proper answer. Not trusting anyone because I painted everyone with the same brush, considering them all cruel.

I never fired the first shot. But I sure as hell escalated the war. Did I have all that isolation, those taunts, those disapproving looks coming to me? Or should they have given me a chance, differences and all?

I do not know.

But I am unique. Maybe a little too unique.

Aya, thank you for sparing me the diamond speech. I heard enough of them to rival the crown jewels. *L*