I read somewhere, a while ago, that we never really outgrow our high school roles -- the two labels that separate us there.
Jocks grow up to be conservative, CEO or Archie Bunker types -- they seal big deals or drive bulldozers, smoke cigars, slap backs and scorn literature and the fine arts.
Nerds grow up to be liberal -- professors, protestors and such.
Granted, it is a sweeping generalization.
But I thought about it yesterday. A big guy, a former sports writer who used to work where I used to work, caught up with me. He remembered me but I had no clue, no memory of him at all.
Seems he's applying for work within the organization where I work. He wanted to come into my office and against my better judgment, I let him. Whereupon he told a "dirty joke" about a former coworker and then proceeded, during the course of an hour of largely solo speech, to chuckle and guffaw his way through some mildly racist commentary -- how he thinks he's going to survive with that attitude in a city that is 90 percent black, I don't know -- while I sat there very uncomfortable.
He wasn't trying to be mean. He was just being himself -- a big, hearty, crude, slap-on-the-back jock. I wasn't trying to be cold or prudish, just myself, a bite-my-tongue nerd.
Does the Flat Rock Journal provide info on dealing with the Urban Scene's own "poisonous critters"?
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I have had numerous encounters here with Mr
Copperhead
(and Mrs.)
http://herekittykatkat.blogspot.com/2006/08/johns-favorite-posting-from-sept-7.html
Oh dear, I do hope we grow out of our high school roles. I was that girl, you know, the one everyone knew, never had a date, never went to school, but still did well. Oh... (cringe)
ReplyDeleteSorry about the guy. It sounds very uncomfortable.
I guess there should be a rule: "never let a guy in your office who thinks he knows you but you don't remember"
It is a sweeping generalization, but as usual, there's more than a grain of truth in it. Unknot your tongue next time and tell him not to let the door hit him in the hindquarters!
ReplyDeleteIt is a sweeping generalization, but as usual, there's more than a grain of truth in it. Unknot your tongue next time and tell him not to let the door hit him in the hindquarters!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I was afraid of this!Are you trying to get the whole school tittering behind my back with the MMM? Yes, I was one of the nerds....how did you know? Not tongue-tied though!
ReplyDeleteI really wish that intelligence was not associated with nerdiness.
ReplyDeleteStereotypes drive me crazy.
However... there may be something to it... it isn't without some kind of base.
Scarlett & Viaggiatore
While I was in advanced and AP classes in high school, I did not fit with the nerds...too course, too rebellious. Too academic to fit with the jocks, and I wasn't athletic then. I am grateful that those labels no longer apply. I can be athletic, intelligent, base and refined as it suits me, and be loved just the same. My politics, likewise, depends on the issue. Though I must say, while I might let a swear word slip, it would never occur to me to tell an off color joke in a new professional environment which could embarrass the person who brought me in.
ReplyDeleteMolly: MMM? Mongolian Marshmallow Munchers? Melancholy Mysterious Marsupials?
ReplyDeleteAll: I'm not sure that I agree with that article completely, for I don't quite fit either one of those roles.
Sure, I was never into sports in school but I lifted weights and I could hold my own and I kept up with personal hygiene. I never played chess or wore a pocket protector. And my two best friends were big, beefy, sports-loving guys who were both quite smart.
There are some things that I am liberal about, and some things that I am conservative about.
I spent today in an art museum. Tomorrow I might go see the Simpsons Movie.
Sometimes I can be loud and guffawy, too; other times quiet and somewhat shy.
Oh, that MMM! As in Marvelous, etc.
ReplyDeleteYOu acronymized my adjectives! And I'm a little slow to catch on tonight.