Are you Dissed by Family and CoWorkers because of Tiki?

It sometimes seems to me that because of my interest in tiki, I often feel like I lose respect with my family members and co workers. Im not taken seriously

They view it as frivolous and ridiculous and silly even though I put extreme effort into being an artisian, armchair historian and collector.

Anyone else experience this? How do you address it? Give it up? Move on to golf and country clubs? Boating and baseballl games?

On 2005-07-16 11:30, Monkeyman wrote:
It sometimes seems to me that because of my interest in tiki, I often feel like I lose respect with my family members and co workers. Im not taken seriously.

HAHA, can't lose what you never had. Don't think I've ever been taken seriously a day in my life, about ANY interest I've ever had.

Sounds kinda like my thing with the John Ashley "Blood Island" films. I love them dearly, I think they're the cat's pajamas. But more than once, a visitor has looked at my video shelf and said "Hmmmmmm.....the BLOOD ISLAND TRILOGY. Hey great! It's good that you have that..." And then they proceed to snicker at how misguided I am. I pity and despise these people simultaneously. They just don't understand and they probably never will.

[ Edited by: procinema29 2005-07-16 12:12 ]

My parents never understood half of what I'm into, but after a trip to Hawaii, they now share my tiki/hawaiiana obsession. My mom is in Maui right now (she even bought a time-share condo with her cousin) and called me to tell me she scored me some hand carved tikis. They have become "enablers" to my habit!
:drink:

First off, there's nothing wrong with Baseball games! I have found that the problem is people don't understand the historical / pop culture / artistic aspects of Tiki as we know it today. I feel like it's a responsibility to educate non-tiki folks to help them see the light. If they don't, fuck 'em.

MM, people that don't understand that other's have an interest or hobby that differs to theirs probably have never had an original thought in their lives.

It really irks me because some people like this will talk at length about some topic or something they are interested and demand your undivided attention, yet when it's your turn to talk about something you are really passionate about--they tune out. It's like they really believe their interests are more important than yours. That ticks me off.

I'd much rather be in the company of creative, interesting people, that are passionate about something, than these boring cookie-cutter vanilla flavored people.

Gawd, conform or die, must be their motto. Damn, where would we be now if people all agreed and there was no room for argument, discussion, change or new ideas.

I agree, *uck um and their stupid *sses. Frigin' clown shoed narrow-minded *astards!

From what I've seen, the people that loose respect in those that are into Tiki seem to associate it with cheapness and all things tacky. The most despised phrase directed at me would have to be "tacky tourist stuff".

Often they aren't as edumacated as we are when it comes to all the areas "Tiki" really encompasses, so they might just see the surface, and come to their own conclusions as to what tiki is.

They don't understand why it is that we appreciate, collect, decorate, create, drink, travel & research this one topic that most people know nothing about.

It's not a regular hobby, and everything it entails is different than any other hobby. We're totally unique.

I wouldn't ever say f*ck 'em all, but maybe screw those who make their decision as to what I(or anyone for that matter) like without even asking. Family, however, I will give lots of chances to.

They will probably never understand it fully, because they lack the drive to do the research.

Just my couple coconuts, for what they're worth.

Personally, I don't care what other's think about my tiki hobby/lifestyle (I hate to admit it but I think it is verging on a "lifestyle"). I don't even tell most people about it and unless they come over or it just happens to come up in conversation then they don't even know. I've worked with people for five years that don't know anything about my tiki life (and I even have a friend at work that is always blabbing about it). That's just a personality quirk of mine, I'm not quick to divulge personal info (glacial is more like it). We hired someone a few months ago and one day he says to me: "You're a very private person aren't you?" I'm like "Yeah, whatever, mind your own business!" :wink:

I hate explaining tiki, tiki bars, tiki drinks, exotica music unless I feel that the person is genuinely interested. Otherwise it's just too much work for nothing. To most people I just say that I collect Hawaiian and Polynesian stuff and leave it at that.

Every now and then I meet other fellow travellers from all walks of life. I was talking to an older couple a few months ago and noticed the lady had a purse with King Kamehameha on it (how could you miss that?), so I ask her "Hey, where'd you get that purse?" and it turns out that they were both obsessed with Hawaii for like 50 years. They honeymooned on Waikiki and go back to the islands every other year. They have tikis at home that they bought over there and they told me that they go to Hilo Hattie's regularly every two weeks! A couple days ago I met a guy who was a missionary in the 1950s in Irian Jaya (Dutch then Indonesian held western New Guinea). He had some great stories to tell. He worked with the Dani tribe and of those that he worked with, he was the first white man that they had ever seen. But even then I just talk to them about their area of interest. That missionary doesn't care about Les Baxter or want to hear about Trader Vics so we just talk about New Guinea and that's good enough for me.

I'm like Kono - my co-workers don't know anything about my personal life, and I like it that way. They may notice the tiki-themed screensaver on my computer, but that's the only clue to what's going on in my head. I don't want to have to explain or justify it. There are too many loud-mouthed gossips where I work, and I know too much about everyone else's personal life.

I don't think I'm being anti-social. I can be friendly and conversational with everyone but still keep my privacy.

Well, I'm lucky I guess. My wife is a Hawaiiana freak, so the family is covered. I don't work, so the co-workers issue is covered.

All my friends, Al-ili, Poly POp, Bamboo Ben, Crazy Al, Rip TIde, TIki MIck, Lucky disigns, Purple Jade (I pray), are all TIki freaks so that's covered.

My band mates seem to be into Hawaiian, no worries...

Yeah, I guess I'm lucky, too. The people I've encountered have actually liked hearing about tiki and why I'm into it, or at least have done a good job of pretending to be interested. Sure, they think it's a little odd, but I don't think anyone's thought there was anything wrong with it, and people ask me to direct them to cool tiki bars I know about.

Angels are down 4-5 in the 8th.

Well,there's been SOME dissension in the family,but my brother,Tom,has been MOST understable-docwoodsCRUISE.

I think my coworkers are far more amused by the drum and bugle corps that they are by tiki, while in the drum and bugle corps I'm known as "the tiki man." If I show up at a rehearsal not wearing a t-shirt with something tiki related on it they notice. So even people who aren't taken seriously don't take me seriously. I have grown quite accustomed to it. I maybe even kind of like it.

On 2005-07-16 18:40, Tiki_Bong wrote:
Well, I'm lucky I guess. My wife is a Hawaiiana freak, so the family is covered.

Ditto here. My tiki decor/ collection/ lifestyle is just viewed as a natural extension of my wife's Hawaiiana collection, most of which she's had for years and brought over when she moved back from Oahu. I've worked in shipbuilding for almost thirty years and a lot of the people I work with know me and they're not fazed a bit. I find people either say "oh that's nice" or "this is great! can I see more?" and I share my books, CD's, pics, etc. and It's invariably a good experience for me and them, or as we say...good mana.

Well one time my boss told a client I collected Tiki Mugs and other Tiki related stuff and they all had a good chuckle, until I pointed out he collects every single Palm Pilot device that comes out. Kind of stopped thinking collecting Tiki wasn't so dumb after all.

Other than that, I quit trying to explain it.

There's a difference between not understanding and not respecting your interest in tiki.

My brother is into retro (i really don't like that word, maybe traditional) rods and customs, but when it comes to tiki, he just doesn't understand. Just the other day, he said he used to see this hawaiin stuff at rod runs and wonder where the hell it tied in with hopped up hot rods and lead sleds.

My girl doesn't really understand either. But she supports me and my efforts. My neighbour came over while I was carving and just said "yeh, coulda guessed it was a tiki". The thing is, these guys (and gals) don't understand, but they support me and my artistic ideas and projects. Give me feedback, that kinda stuff.

My folks, on the other hand, look down their nose at it. To them it is not a "legitimate" interest. Yeh, whatever.

I also understand however, that there is nothing worse than a person who is so into something, that they are unaware when their audience has fallen asleep, 'cause they talking about their pet subject. For this reason, i only talk tiki to my brother, girlfriend, and a tiny bit to my best mates and neighbour.

I also hate telling people about tiki, especially youngin's like myself (21), because its not like they might remember these tiki bars from the '50s and '60s.

The cost of being an individual is that the majority will not understand, I suppose. But, thats kinda why i like it :)
Just checl out my signature below:

No

That's tellin' 'em, JT.

Unfortunately, my parents never really got to see any aspect of my Tiki lifestyle. My dad probably would've found it funny. My mother would've been gently puzzled and sort of given a confused little smile.

As it happens, many of my friends were into Tiki not only before I was, but before it was in any way 'hip' in today's popular culture.

I do have one friend who will only refer to all you TC folk (in echo-y, basso profundo, stentorian tones) as "THUH TEEEKEEE PEEEPLLLE". But then, HE lives for 'film noir'.

Yes I too have felt the weird looks from coworkers about my hobby. Some are very understanding. Others aren't until I show them pics on Tiki Central and then they become much more interested. Some have even asked me to help them tiki-fy their backyards.

I experince quite the opposite. Everyone loves it. It make me and my wife unique. They KNOW when they come over here for festivities, they are going to have a great time, drink some great drinks in some great glasses which they've never seen before. They always have their feelers out for me too...whenever there's a tiki to be found in Pittsburgh, I get a call. I feel lucky!

A coworker just bought one of my carvings, and owns all of my prints, though he wouldn't decribe himself as a tiki collector. Another is building a tiki bar on his dock in his backyard. Then there are those that notice some of the tiki-ish pics at my deck, and seem to want to say something, but they have nothing to say, and get straight to discussing work. These tend to be bosses or various other upper-crusters. They make me wonder if I should just take my tiki stuff home and replace them with some "safe" vacation beach shots.

Tiki-Bot and I are both the weirdo's of our respective families, so my family at least was pretty happy I found someone as weird as I am, that has a steady job and is an all around nice guy. They look at the tiki stuff as just another part of our weird wonderful lifestyle. When we showed them the videos and pictures from our wedding, they thought it was great, and weren't too surprised by it. (We eloped at the tiki oasis 3) When we had our AIDS LIfecycle fundraising party which Martiki bar-tended and had a pretty heavy tiki theme, our Lifecycle speaker walked into the house and said, in awe, 'does it ALWAYS look like this??' Most of our non-tiki friends are all into their own thing, and our coworkers are all artists, so they pretty much understand the passion we have for things different. I think we're both well rounded in the eclectic interest department, music, art, movies, tattoos, and we have been for so long, people in our lives are used to it. My family isn't really overly judgmental about lifestyles anymore, which I think is cool. They have a tendency to accept what ever I'm into, finally! I think being married to another freak helps, as does living 3000 miles away from most of them :) They realize we're very happy and that we're both good people, so who cares! PLUS when we come back to visit, we make them yummy cocktails and they love it!

Oh yeah, we like Baseball too, AND it's the assertion that Eddy Merckx is actually considered a greater cyclist than Lance, that's causing the most heated discussions amongst family members right now :)

MM - Having met you, and knowing that you discovered your creative side a bit later in life than some of us, you may be realizing what many of us came to terms with as teenagers or in our early twenties. Creative people are different, and they scare some people, who don't understand what drives it. Hang in there, you are an amazing artist, and as much as it sucks to not be able to share this thing that brings you so much joy, with people you care about, you have a group of people who totally support you. Eventually your family and friends will accept it, or you'll accept that they don't! Look at it this way, at this point, at least you don't have to get a bunch of dumb tattoos, pierce yourself 40 times, listen to loud tuneless music at high volume, and get a dumb haircut to announce your defiance to the world :wink:

mrs. pineapple

Derek,

I understand how you feel. Most of my friends and co-workers think its cool. But, there is always a few knuckleheads. "So, you have a magazine about Tikis what's that about? If they're trying to make fun of it or diss me, I immediately blow them off. If they have a genuine interest, I'll talk with them about it. I let them bring it up. Know that you have a lot of friends here on Tiki Central, me being one of them.

Nick

hmmmm,I think my family, friends and co-workers are Ok with me being into tiki---it's the mannequin collection that freaks them out!

I mentioned to a friend the other day that I had been having trouble with a CD order from Amazon. He asked what the CD was, and I replied that it was 'Voodoo' by Robert Drasnin. He of course, wanted an explanation. I said it came under the classification of 'Exotica', and that it was essentially faux Polynesian music from the 'fifties.
He then asked, didn't I think I needlessly isolated myself from the rest of society by my esoteric tastes? If I took more of an interest in popular culture I would find myself less alone (I'm a 46-year-old bachelor). Perhaps there was some kind of unconscious mechanism at work...
I found this conversation somewhat depressing... all right, I like my own company quite a lot, but don't necessarily want to remain single for the rest of my life.
On the other hand, I don't want to listen to music I detest, just because it is more popular. (He himself is a 'Status Quo' fan- what irony in that name!)

CHRIS

On 2005-07-16 18:46, Humuhumu wrote:
Yeah, I guess I'm lucky, too. The people I've encountered have actually liked hearing about tiki and why I'm into it, or at least have done a good job of pretending to be interested. Sure, they think it's a little odd, but I don't think anyone's thought there was anything wrong with it, and people ask me to direct them to cool tiki bars I know about.

Humu, most of the rest of us don't have the advantage of being a beautiful & intelligent young woman. :P

On 2005-07-18 02:54, Chrisc wrote:

He then asked, didn't I think I needlessly isolated myself from the rest of society by my esoteric tastes? If I took more of an interest in popular culture I would find myself less alone (I'm a 46-year-old bachelor). Perhaps there was some kind of unconscious mechanism at work...

When I was in college my sister was trying to fix me up with one of her B-I-L's friends who was in law school at Penn, he was totally not into me, and she made this huge deal about it being because of my tattoos and punk rock friends, etc. (this was 15 years ago)

When I brought Mr. Pineapple-Bot back to meet the family, my sister, her 19 y/o daughter and I were in the car jokinng about what an overbearing nag my sister can be, and I told my niece about how her mom and I didn't talk for a year because she hurt my feelings when she said if I didn't start acting more 'normal' no one would ever want to marry me, and my sister got really quiet and said, 'Actually, Tony came out of the closet a few years after you moved to SF...' A-HA! My niece gave her grief ALL week, and told me how happy she was that I waited to marry Uncle Rich, because he was pefect for me :)

Don't settle, somewhere out there is the perfect person for all of us!

HA

I guess my thing is to straddle that middle line. Do I need to drive a 1972 VW bus and a pony tail to prove my identity or can I make it more subtle. Drive a mainstream car and live in a mainstream neighborhood because its comfortable and stable.

I work at a mainstream job because it keeps my family healthy (w/health insurance), Happy (with a house to live in), and Safe (with a little money in the bank).

If I were to live my dream life (as it appears in my dreams), I would be a rock climbing instructor in a mountain town or a scuba tour guide in the Bahamas. Some folks actually do that for a living but I am sure there are downsides as well. I also like having a wife and kids who know that I will be home at a certain time on most days of the week. They will be able to grown up with a circle of freinds that they will know from kindergarten through high school. I do like that part of being mainstream.

But then there are all the parts of my life that are just for ME. Thats where the old man clothes (ie-barcloth from the 70s') and old man music (music of my grandparents) come in. I spend my weekends making lamps and carving instead of having a tailgate party at a raiders game or attending a "how to increase your personal wealth" seminar at the convention center.

On the one hand I question myself and wonder if the mainstream has figured out something that I have not. Then again, I recognize how happy I am pursuing MY interests and hobbies.

Its a circle that will never be complete until I come to grips with myself. Striving for acceptance and denouncing conformity at the same time. The only people that can REALLY get away with denouncing conformity and acceptance are extremely wealthy (like a entrepreneur or rock star) or have fallen off the planet (living in a tree or under a bridge somewhere).

monkeyman, i'm sure a few TCers are are hoisting a starbucks double latte half strapped lightly foamy triple flip crapaccino to you right now! joy & rapture...

$

[ Edited by: alohabros 2005-07-18 10:54 ]

My immidiate family has always been the black sheep to the rest of the family. I was always taught that going against the grain is better than shuffling with the herd. Do what makes you happy, regardless of what mainstream is.

I think I must be lucky up here. Despite the lack of tiki establishments, people for the most part expect some individuality, and don't look down upon it.

Maybe the mild weather & island living brings out the freaks & artsy-fartsy types, who knows.

Great thread Derek.

I also want to add, that while my family has come to terms with my 'lifestyle,' Mr. Bot's family, we've concluded, were hoping he'd marry someone 'normal' and see the light. They are slowly coming to the realization, that ain't gonna happen. I respectfully refer to him as 'the Marilyn Munster' of his family :wink:

I rarely mention Tiki outside of home because most people have no idea what I'm talking about. It was more fun to surprise them when they arrived. In my original Tiki Bar, I put together a 3-page description of what Tiki and Exotica are. By no means was it a complete description but it was easy to toss at those people who have to question everything. "Here, read this, there will be a quiz later."

I must say that the few people who saw Tiki Bar #1 (as I call it now) thought it was cool. Feed them drinks and they stop asking questions. Hopefully Tiki Bar #2 (still under construction) will mystify them. To me, Tiki and Exotica are a fun hobby that I get enjoyment from and nothing more.

I've always been the black sheep of the family, so the tiki interest is not a big deal. I have a reputation in my family for always enjoying myself and I think they appreciate that. That's not to say I don't catch some grief for my excentricities, but it's all in good fun and I can give as well as I take.

My friends have no problem with it since I threw a tiki party and made a bunch of drinks from Beachbum's books. Everybody loved the drinks and had a great time, so they appreciate tiki even if they aren't collectors themselves. My girlfriend gives me grief once in a while, mainly because of the lack of room in our Manhattan apartment for all my tiki stuff but, that too, is all very tongue in cheek.

I don't really talk about this kind of stuff at work very much. I'm the boss and, though I am friendly with my co-workers, I don't get into too much detail about my pesonal life.

I try not to be too much of a one-trick-pony about anything. I've found that anybody who is so "into" something that they talk about it every chance they get is boring and one dimensional, even if I care about their obsession.

I sometimes find that I'm a weirdo in the eyes of other weirdos. I hang out with people who like to dress and talk and sing like pirates. They think I'm a little odd because I'm also into tiki. At work I don't talk about it much, but it's an open secret, especially since I have a couple of pals working with me who are also part of our tiki Ohana. Sometimes when the three of us are talking (about anything), other coworkers will walk by and say things like, "Are you guys talking about tiki again?". Still, some of the folks here, though they're not into our obsession, helped us learn how to make mugs for the NW Tiki Crawl, and some of them discovered that we shared their passion because we happened to mention it at work.

Sometimes I think we need a secret handshake or saying to recognize one another ("For the sake of a widow's son") or something...

My family gets it, though. We are all black sheep, and I'm the darkest of them all. I had expected my mom to poo-poo my hobby the first time she saw my bar. She was an early proto-hippie, and part of the generation that shunned PolyPop culture. She loved my bar, and now she lives in Mexico, right next to (what she calls) a tiki bar, and she can't wait for me to see it.

Aw shucks, I got a little hot under the collar, I should have not vented so much before thinking.

There's always going to be people that don't quite understand or just don't care in what you're interested in....and that's okay.

Well said MM, it's what makes you happy and that is what is truly important. :D

My interests totally affect the way that my family, my friends and (unfortunately) my employer view me.

My sisters think I'm a freak. My nieces think I'm really cool. That's fine. I respect the kid's opinions more anyway.

I don't even want to start in on my friends. I give up. I've waisted a good portion of my life accompanying friends to events that have made me want to gouge my own eyes out and/or rip my own ears off. But you do it. That's what friends are for, isn't it? Apparently not. Luckily I do enjoy my own company.

The last plant manager at the facility where I work was totally cool. He didn't quite get the whole tiki thing, but he enjoyed my spirit of whimsy and would always manage to find a tiki souvenir for me whenever he traveled. Our new plant manager is his antithesis. He finds it so hard to take me seriously that I finally started de-tikifying my office for fear of never getting promoted again.

Felt good to rant a little.

Thanks, Derek.

Well, my wife and family enjoy the drinks. Most of my family was in town this weekend and I pulled out my mugs along with BOT and Tiki Quest. While they were enjoying their drinks, I pointed out the mugs that I have that are in the books. That sort of got them interested. What really helped was when my mother, looking through BOT, said she had been to many of the restaurants. I never knew this about my mother, and it opened up a whole new line of communication between us.

My co-workers don't get it. They just think I'm wierd. My long-time friends are all wine snobs (I love to drink their wine, but I wouldn't pay for it) but the can't think outside the glass.

Today I discovered that some of my older bosses at work used to go to tiki bars. I had to explain why I got flagged at work for an inappropriate e-mail. I got 8 points for using the word bastard. I was so happy that I finally got a suffering bastard that I e-mailed a friend. Immediately the e-mail cops sent me and all my bosses a notice and point total. I showed them the e-mail and a few of them laughed and we had a great conversation.

I can't say that my family disses me for my little Polynesian flair...most of them think it's fun. I guess they figure if I want to bring a little vacation home with me then it's all good. My co-workers make fun, but who has the last laugh the day before you're headed to Hawaii...or Tahiti...or Samoa? Yeah, that's right, I make fun of them for being so vanilla :).

I think every person in Tiki Central is a creative type on some level. If you are creative and/or an artist, you are subject to criticism and judgment...it's just goes along with the territory.

The secret that every creative person has is this: they usually are having more fun with life! So to those who want to make us feel bad for being different...go right ahead.

I try and realize they must have some need for saying negative things and I let them "own" their bad energy--when all is said and done I'm just glad it's not mine!

We all make a choice whether or not we want to accept labels or the opinions of others. It's always good to hear feedback, but it's also good to know when it is meaningless or when to let it go.

My personal experience with sharing my tiki life has been overwhelmingly positive. I've even had many people give me tiki gifts that they have found in their part of the world and I have had artists create things just for my tiki room art gallery. I am very lucky to have had such an experience--I'll say that--and I don't take it for granted.

The one time I had a problem that was tiki related was because someone had NOT been included in a party that I had in the Tiki Room and she was mad about it! So there you have it... :)

My obsession with rockabilly, vintage clothing, etc. overshadow the Tiki thing. Most of my co-workers think I'm crazy anyhow....

Matty

I guess I'm pretty fortunate that I don't get any flak at home about my loving the whole tiki thing. My kids (2 and 4) love the music and the decor. Martin Denny is tops with my son. And my wife is cool with it all as long as it stays in my office/bar.

I actually need to give the wife a little more credit. She's agreed to a trip out to CA this year that will include at least a few stops to some classic Tiki places. Tiki Ti and Humphrey's Half Moon-Inn are on the list for sure! (BTW - if anyone knows of any other good tiki bars in Anaheim or San Diego drop me a line)

Most of the people I work with are fairly open minded and don't think I'm crazy or anything being into tiki stuff. Then again I don't exactly make it extremely obvious (except on Fridays - Hawaiian shirt day!). A few of the folks I work with daily think its cool.

Since I got out of the mental hospital, nobody gives me any crap!

Seriously, alcoholism runs rampant in my wife’s family, (come to think of it mine too), anyway she is very leery of the alcohol factor and that keeps the kabash on TiKi somewhat.

The rest of my family and friends think I am nuts anyway.

Interesting thread. I have many interests, tiki and tropical being part of it all. I know my all in-laws don't understand why I would want to decorate my house in such a fashion... All their homes are very formal. My home is comfortable, casual and fun. They probably think I'm tacky - formal window treatments and crown molding would be better choices. My sister used to say, "You only go through this life once". My mother used to say, "The fun you have is the fun you make". I say, "If you can't have fun it ain't worth living." So, whatever it is you love, enjoy it and the hell with the rest of them if they don't get it. That's their problem....not yours.

My family and friends are great about our tikiness. As for the workplace, I never really say much about it. When I first started thinking about carving, I got some teasing at work. One guy kept saying that I would never actually do any carving and another was calling me "tikiwood". Of course I didn't listen to them but it made me decide to kind of keep it to myself. Now I work in a different building and I hadn't been talking about tiki there either. That is until this week when I participated in an exhibit of creativity held in one of our conference rooms. About 30 employees brought in things that they have created ranging from jewelry, painting and sketches, pottery, photography, quilts etc. Don't get me wrong, this was no craft show. This was good stuff.
Of course I took tiki. I chose my Pisco and the Frankoma War God as well as one other. I haven't received a lot of feedback but the exhibit just ended today. It was really cool to have some folks from the Creative Dept. at headquarters stop by. I always enjoy meeting and talking with them because they have that ability to look beyond the surface of things and I have so much more in common with them than the folks in my work area. In short, "THEY GET IT!" What a breath of fresh air that was for me.
I also learned from the exhibit that there are some very talented people who I pass in the aisles every day and never knew about their "hidden assets" . As far as I know, nobody was dissing my carvings but I wasn't in the room very much during the event. And you know, I don't even care if a lot of them thought it was a bunch of junk. If everybody loved tiki then everybody would have tiki and then we wouldn't have such a unique common bond as we do here on TC. A Terrible thought. OK, essay is complete, thanks for reading.

I've been the perpetual outsider for as long as I can remember. Sure, I've always been viewed as "odd" or "weird", so anything I'm interested in is put down or met with puzzled looks or downright hostility. It was that way when I liked comic books, film music, Jazz, you name it-- it was laughed at, sneered at and shat upon! I'm convinced that there are virtually no more so-called "characters", that is, people who think and feel for themselves and who don't spend the majority of their lives obsessing over their next SUV, "better" job or more advanced college degree! People don't seem to have passions or hobbies and most people I come into contact with have "Basic Cable Minds." That is, the realm of their existence doesn't exceed what is shown on basic cable channels.

The bottom line? If people don't like it, too bad! Tell them to look at their own vapid, wasted lives and leave you the hell alone!