Stormin Norman
22nd December 2002, 12:53
Tonight I went to a friend's graduation party. A couple weeks back I went to a 'loft warming' with my sister. There was a remarkably similar composition of the crowd, which consisted of upwardly mobile professional types and college students with promising futures. This I do not have a problem with. I have a problem with the pretentious self-aggrandizing attitudes of the majority of them. Frequently I walk through the door and think, oh shit not another one of these. At first I feel out of place and want to leave immediately. However, since I am forced by my associates to stay, usually my girlfriend, I have to make due with the boring crowd handed to me. Lighting a cigarette and proceeding straight to the bar for a little attitude adjustment, I start to overhear people saying the most peculiar things. My curiosity peeks and I realize that I can salvage the time and make things more interesting for myself.
Perhaps my aversion to these shallow types comes from my former association with people who were less motivated and self medicated their self-hatred with more illicit drugs. Drawn into the drug lifestyle during high school, I made the acquaintance of more questionable and shady types of people. Living in the shadows with people, whose only motivation was to bring you down further than them, so they can feel better in their desperate positions in life, gives one a unique perspective on the human condition. By a matter of course, I never really found myself in the presence of the glitteratti. One thing I can say for drug addicted types; it is not hard to find people who except you for who you are. At least while you, like them, resort to damaging your soul with harmful substances. Once I changed my direction and no longer participated in strange rituals of drug induced highs, they began to see me as an outsider. Wishing to maintain relationships that I had developed over time, I tried to continue to hang out with them. It was awkward for me since they took offense to the fact that I no longer engaged in their favorite pass-time.
Being pushed out of my former friendships by differences in attitudes left me in a position where I had to find new arrangements. I took to the path of education. In this world I have met people that I previously wished had existed, motivated people that had intelligent things to say. However, the friendships made in academia, are much more dynamic than those in the underworld are. People are constantly moving and pursuing greater endeavors. Permanent friendships are harder to form. By nature, these interactions are more superficial than the friendships I had developed with people I went to junior high school with.
Around the time of my metamorphosis I met the love of my life. Of course her interests are largely different than mine, thereby offering balance to my life. With our differences come different types of associations. She tends to gravitate more to the yuppie type mentioned at the beginning of this essay. Sometimes I chose to stay home in order to avoid what she calls an enjoyable evening. Other times she insists that I accompany her out on the town, rather vocally I might add. This forces me into a realm alien to me. I grew up in a wealthy area, but I always tended to hang out with more down to earth types, people who could see past their money and placed a different value on things. With her, it is always forms over substance. I prefer substance. This explains my unwillingness to put myself in the same room as those who hold status of wealth and appearance over status of achievement and excellence.
Something strange is happening to me as a result. I have grown rather adept at mingling with this type of crowd. I am able to see past their shortcomings and engage them as I would any other person. Often times they are deeper than I would have thought, and I end up enjoying their company. Since they are usually educated I can hold decent conversations. In contrast, I have tried to incorporate with old friends from time to time only to be disappointed with an overall lack of progression on their part. Of course, there are some exceptions, but the general trend continues. What is happening to me? Am I becoming a yuppie? I don’t think so, because I still prefer the company of my old friends who have grown. I even prefer hanging out with more humble types when they are complete strangers to me. The closest assumption that I can make is that I am a social chameleon able to transpose myself in any situation. Even though it takes some convincing on my girlfriend’s part, when I socialize with her friends I am presently surprised and greatly rewarded by her at the end of the night. It’s definitely worth my time in the end. Perhaps I should go out more often, even if I risk becoming a yuppie.
Perhaps my aversion to these shallow types comes from my former association with people who were less motivated and self medicated their self-hatred with more illicit drugs. Drawn into the drug lifestyle during high school, I made the acquaintance of more questionable and shady types of people. Living in the shadows with people, whose only motivation was to bring you down further than them, so they can feel better in their desperate positions in life, gives one a unique perspective on the human condition. By a matter of course, I never really found myself in the presence of the glitteratti. One thing I can say for drug addicted types; it is not hard to find people who except you for who you are. At least while you, like them, resort to damaging your soul with harmful substances. Once I changed my direction and no longer participated in strange rituals of drug induced highs, they began to see me as an outsider. Wishing to maintain relationships that I had developed over time, I tried to continue to hang out with them. It was awkward for me since they took offense to the fact that I no longer engaged in their favorite pass-time.
Being pushed out of my former friendships by differences in attitudes left me in a position where I had to find new arrangements. I took to the path of education. In this world I have met people that I previously wished had existed, motivated people that had intelligent things to say. However, the friendships made in academia, are much more dynamic than those in the underworld are. People are constantly moving and pursuing greater endeavors. Permanent friendships are harder to form. By nature, these interactions are more superficial than the friendships I had developed with people I went to junior high school with.
Around the time of my metamorphosis I met the love of my life. Of course her interests are largely different than mine, thereby offering balance to my life. With our differences come different types of associations. She tends to gravitate more to the yuppie type mentioned at the beginning of this essay. Sometimes I chose to stay home in order to avoid what she calls an enjoyable evening. Other times she insists that I accompany her out on the town, rather vocally I might add. This forces me into a realm alien to me. I grew up in a wealthy area, but I always tended to hang out with more down to earth types, people who could see past their money and placed a different value on things. With her, it is always forms over substance. I prefer substance. This explains my unwillingness to put myself in the same room as those who hold status of wealth and appearance over status of achievement and excellence.
Something strange is happening to me as a result. I have grown rather adept at mingling with this type of crowd. I am able to see past their shortcomings and engage them as I would any other person. Often times they are deeper than I would have thought, and I end up enjoying their company. Since they are usually educated I can hold decent conversations. In contrast, I have tried to incorporate with old friends from time to time only to be disappointed with an overall lack of progression on their part. Of course, there are some exceptions, but the general trend continues. What is happening to me? Am I becoming a yuppie? I don’t think so, because I still prefer the company of my old friends who have grown. I even prefer hanging out with more humble types when they are complete strangers to me. The closest assumption that I can make is that I am a social chameleon able to transpose myself in any situation. Even though it takes some convincing on my girlfriend’s part, when I socialize with her friends I am presently surprised and greatly rewarded by her at the end of the night. It’s definitely worth my time in the end. Perhaps I should go out more often, even if I risk becoming a yuppie.