Rev Roger: Hard Times in Fat City, part 3

[Z³]

There is nothing wrong with "looking like a freak" unless you lament on either the trouble it causes you, or else embellish upon it to the point of it actually becoming irritating.

In some cases, and I'm thinking of the yakuza as I type this, it can be pretty fucking impressive.

Anyway, I find that "fitting into the system" is a useful survival mechanism... at least if you really have something to hide from... but in a way I think that attitude might be just a little bit cowardly as well. That isnt to say that I have any respect for the hot-topic demographic, I dont, I just dont think that I'd want fear of the status-quo to dominate any aspect of my life.

I know this topic of discussion often leads to the "anti-conformity is a type of conformity" argument, which I agree with. Real individuality is something that exists independent of how one portrays themselves to the rest of the world, and that may or may not be something that changes depending on attitude.

Still, of any of us were really trying to hide, would we be discussing things openly on the internet? That puts us at risk just a little bit more than having an ugly haircut.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Still, of any of us were really trying to hide, would we be discussing things openly on the internet? That puts us at risk just a little bit more than having an ugly haircut.

Risk?  The reason I say to keep it on the inside is that it makes it easier to jake, and easier to get away with it.

Look like Joe Normal, and let the visible freaks take the blame.

[East Coast Hustle]

Still, of any of us were really trying to hide, would we be discussing things openly on the internet? That puts us at risk just a little bit more than having an ugly haircut.

speaking of that, as of my joining this board/spewing post-election hatred for all to see, the TSA has determined that I am now on the "yellow" list, and am subject to inch-by-inch scrutiny anytime I go through an airport security checkpoint for the rest of my life.

Say hello to Mr. Jellyfinger!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Still, of any of us were really trying to hide, would we be discussing things openly on the internet? That puts us at risk just a little bit more than having an ugly haircut.

speaking of that, as of my joining this board/spewing post-election hatred for all to see, the TSA has determined that I am now on the "yellow" list, and am subject to inch-by-inch scrutiny anytime I go through an airport security checkpoint for the rest of my life.

Say hello to Mr. Jellyfinger!

That'll teach you.  I, for one, am glad to see that the government is finally putting the arm on degenerates like you.

[East Coast Hustle]

That'll teach you.  I, for one, am glad to see that the government is finally putting the arm in degenerates like you.

I told you, they didn't go quite that far...

[Eldora, Oracle of Alchemy]

I never said there was anything "wrong" with looking like a freak, but there are consequences.  I would not dye my hair purple, but I would paint my nails purple.  I do not look like Molly Homemaker and I get a lot of my tshirts, boots, nail polish, bras and underwear from Hot Topic.  

People like you are the reason people like me need medication

This one gets a lot of attention from other people that look quite normal.  I always make a point of telling them if they get it, the slogan does not apply to them.  

You laugh because I'm different, I laugh because you're all the same.

This is one I got for myself and my niece.  My sister did such a good job of raising her that she does not understand her now.

I like to be comfortable, that is why I wear jeans and tshirts, it is a comfortable uniform.  Plus, I don't have to dress up for work, so I have very little in the way of dress clothes.  I think part of the trick is to be able to fit in many environments, not just your particular comfort zone.  I can fit in with working class people in general, bikers in particular, intellectuals, snotty business people, parents in general, moms in particular, computer geeks, hippies, stoners, 12 step people, professors, and probably more, but that is enough to make my point.  I have also found, when I was working as a bartender that "suits" are more obnoxious when they get drunk than bikers are.

I don't think of myself as cowardly, althought I might be.  If I am hiding, I am hiding in plain site.  You can say a lot of things to people and get them to accept them by doing it that way.  One topic that has been discussed ad nauseum is the whole pagan symbols in Xmas.  If you tell Xian that the Xmas tree is pagan, you will have a fight.  If you tell them it is an old symbol that predates christianity, they are more likely to listen.  Ask yourself, do you want to inform or start a fight.  Personally I like to freak people out sometimes, but make them go HUH?!? a lot.  If I look like something out of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, they will not take me seriously ever, so I will never make a point.  

I currently work with a very Christian young woman.  An actual Christian, who believes in tolerance and love for her fellow man and all that.  I can be pretty honest with her and have taught her a lot.  Over on Scorch's board someone told me I would spend an eternity in hell.  I told her about this and she laughed and asked me what I had done.  I said it wasn't so much that I explained the story of Lilith, it was the way I put it.  Saying that Lilith was my hero for telling Adam and god to go fuck themselves was what put them over the edge.  She laughed.  She was also pissed that someone else would take it upon themselves to tell me I was going to hell, that that was for god to decide.  I told her the story of Lilith a long time ago.  She and I have had a lot of talks about the bible.  We have talked about how the OT is the basis of xianity, judaism and islam.  I had to convince her, we had to look things up on the internet.  And more than once I had to walk away because I was about to laugh at her fury.  She was much more closed minded when I first met her.  These are the kinds of people I can reach by looking normal enough to fit.

[EraPassing]

Hm.
I own one pair of jeans, one pair of tennis shoes, and both of these are meant more for working in the yard or doing something that I don't want to ruin my good clothes for, than for actually being seen in public.  I'm a terribly elitest sartorial snob.  In public, I wear suits, blazers, blouses, pants, skirts, pretty shoes.   My clothing is also predominantly black, with a little red tossed in, and my jewelry is often "inappropriately" bold.  That's what's comfortable, to me.
I don't look like a professional, I don't look Goth, I don't look like any one group at all.  I have my own style - I don't look like a "freak," but I don't really look like anyone else, either.  Call my style "Eddie Bauer meets Hot Topic" and that's close enough.  And because I'm perfectly comfortable in what I'm wearing, the suits will notice, but not dare to protest, that the figures carved in my ring are actually having sex, and the Goths or the hiphop crowd isn't protesting that my clothing is more appropriate to the business office.
Whatever group I happen to be in will look at me, and most likely react in a manner that says, "OK, she doesn't look like us, but she's cool, anyway."  
If I dyed my hair purple, I would fit in.
If I wore beige and no jewelry, I would fit in.
I fit in because I don't allow anyone to tell me that I don't fit in.
The only times I do not fit in is when I do not wish to be there.

[Z³]

Still, of any of us were really trying to hide, would we be discussing things openly on the internet? That puts us at risk just a little bit more than having an ugly haircut.

Risk?  The reason I say to keep it on the inside is that it makes it easier to jake, and easier to get away with it.

Look like Joe Normal, and let the visible freaks take the blame.

Point taken, there is value to camoflage.

[Uncle Spam]

Still, of any of us were really trying to hide, would we be discussing things openly on the internet? That puts us at risk just a little bit more than having an ugly haircut.

Risk?  The reason I say to keep it on the inside is that it makes it easier to jake, and easier to get away with it.

Look like Joe Normal, and let the visible freaks take the blame.

Point taken, there is value to camoflage.

Damn straight.  A freak murders another man and gets life in prison.  A soldier slaughters a town and gets a medal.

[Yalkara]

Still, of any of us were really trying to hide, would we be discussing things openly on the internet? That puts us at risk just a little bit more than having an ugly haircut.

Risk?  The reason I say to keep it on the inside is that it makes it easier to jake, and easier to get away with it.

Look like Joe Normal, and let the visible freaks take the blame.

HA! I could teach a few of you ameteurs a thing or two about invisibility. Thanks to my father's heritage I look more continental european than anything else, and this helps immensely when you're always travelling everywhere. Maybe it's the whole 'whore on terror' thing but for some reason the people in Casablanca are more friendly when you speak italian rather than english slowly and loudly at the top of your lungs. I don't have a home anywhere and when you're prancing around with a notebook and a camera people tend to think you're a reporter, I've actually managed to get into all sorts of official functions all over the place based on this.

The sad thing is, when I go home sometimes (like recently at christmas) I was down the street with some old friends and some skinhead saucepan comes over and tells me to go crawl back under the sand, or similar to it. Now, aside from the fact I was in a bar, with a bunch of other women, drinking, no men in sight, I thought it was pretty obvious I was from where I was from. But looking down at my tinted skin and the tan I'd somehow managed to keep in russia (only $30 a bottle) and I put on my thickest accent and said to him: 'ere, it's just around the corner, wot, dya wanna shag?
It's so nice to see a skinny kid with a shaven head turn bright red,

[Irreverend Hugh, KSC]

Fucking skinheads!

skinheads=tazor targets

[EraPassing]

*pounces on Rog and chomps on his head*

[Irreverend Hugh, KSC]

That'll teach you.  I, for one, am glad to see that the government is finally putting the arm on degenerates like you.

I agree. It makes my job so much more easier.