DFW (18,550 posts)
(1)Met up with a guy after 40 years, he says, "You were always the nonconformist!" Me?(2)*
There was a half-Jewish, half Puerto-Rican guy I(3) used to hang around with at college. He got married, moved to Florida, and we lost touch.
Enter Facebook, he looks for me(4) and finds me(5). He's now 65, into cooking, has had odd jobs around the world (Israel, Czech Rep., UK, Latin America, etc.), been married three times, now spends his summers in Cape Cod (where I(6) am now) and winters in Florida. So now he follows what he can glean from FB about my life(7), knows I(8) have an unusual circle of friends and always knew what I(9) did for a living (or planned to). We just met up this evening after 40+ years, and had some catching up to do.
He has really had the varied gypsy life some dream of, though if he's been married 3 times, they can't all have been good times. And yet, he comments on my(10) life in the meantime, "you were always the nonconformist."
Who? Me?(11)
In high school and college, to some degree, I(12) suppose that was true. In those days, we were all expected to dress in gaudy colors, have especially long hair, and get high. I(13) said I(14) never needed any of that stuff, and got trashed for it. I(15) found I(16) had Arafat's skin problem, and broke out in a rash if I(17) shaved my face, so I(18) stopped. In high school. I(19) caught shit for that, too. My(20) mom thought I(21) had a head for business, and was after me(22) to go to business school after graduating college. Instead, when I(23) was offered a position with my(24) current outfit, which involved constant traveling, I(25) jumped at it. My mom told me(26) I(27) could "play" at this for a few years, but then I(28) should go to business school, get a serious job and leave the James Bond stuff to others. Now I'm(29) station chief for Europe with the same outfit, and I'm(30) still in a different country every day for work. I(31) never did make it to business school.
So, I've(32) been with the same outfit for 40 years, the same woman for 41 years, 2 normal children who now earn their own living (one in the USA, the other in Germany), and still do no drugs, not even nicotine or alcohol. Boooooooooring!! But I(33) DID always end up rejecting EVERYBODY'S idea of what THEY thought I(34) should be doing or wearing. I(35) wore what I(36) wanted, chose a job that I(37) wanted, married the woman that I(38) wanted, and live the life that I(39) want. I(40) would have thought most people call that "conservative." But here this guy pops up after 40 years, remembers me(41) as the big non-conformist, and says I(42) still am. I(43) never felt any obligation to imitate all the self-annointed non-conformists of my(44) peers, it's true. They always called ME(45) the odd man out, and for a good while had me convinced I(46) was. Hair too short, clothes too plain, etc. I(47) never aspired to be cool, but in high school, there was no shortage of fellow students (male and, alas, female) willing to point out to me(48) the error of my(49) thinking. And yet, this one half-Puertorriqueño guy always thought of ME(50) as the non-conformist, shows up after 40 years and says I(50) still am.
Novel notion, if you ask me(51), but as the Germans say, "man lernt nie aus (you never stop learning things).
Self-referential? ME?51 references to himself as he relates a throwaway comment made by someone who means nothing to him. I'm surprised this person, whom DFW insists that we know is a half-breed, isn't a guitar player, and these two guys got a room and played Guantamanera while the maidens danced and made tortillas or whatever.
In any case, what DFW is trying to do is brag on his life while fatuously pointing to how "boring" he is. The point of THAT is so that his DUmmy sycophants can remind him, "You're not BORING! You take pictures with famous DEMOCRATS!"
Transparent as granny's slip, DFW.
And sure enough, here comes you-know-who to shine him on:
Star Member CaliforniaPeggy (116,115 posts)
2. I wouldn't put too much credence in what this fellow has to say, after 40-odd years away from you...
You're an interesting, and very cool gentleman, and with the life you've made for yourself and the places you've been and the people you know, it's terrific.
He doesn't know what he's talking about.
And you sure as hell never stop learning things!
Looks like DFW's fishing expedition has yielded a nice, big, aching-seeded CalTuna.
