Uncommon Common Bonds

Are you ever doing something that feels rather normal and in your mind it seems like such a normal activity that you don't even question it as something abnormal until someone gives that look.
That look that is to say "what the heck is that....' or "who is this weirdo".

This happens to me all the time.
I can be going along, minding my own business when some jive turkey will be like "woah look at Kansas. She's eating that apple soooo strangely. I've never seen anyone eat an apple like that" (this was from a professor in the middle of a lecture who then proceeded to grab my apple and hold it up for the whole class to see and mock my eating strategies)
Suddenly my whole false illusion of "normality" (I won't get started on that today) is shattered and I am left questioning my very simplest of actions. (do I eat apples weirdly? How many different ways are there to eat an apple? Who even cares about the process of eating an apple? Do I eat other things strangely?)

It can be upsetting.
It can also be helpful. As a kid I had a severe speech impediment (which my folks choose to not tell me about..) that I found out existed when one of my friends informed me I "talked funny". This recognition also helped work through the problem and speak correctly.
Sometimes I'll be doing something or talking about something and based on other peoples reactions realize that what I am describing is something only my family does. I thought the "I SEE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!!" game was universal. Sadly so far my family seems to be the originator (though over the years we have converted many folks to its wonders).

Its cool though when we can find common ground with other people. There are certain things that every (I guess every American at least) person seems to have experienced. Everyone played lava floor as a kid, even though I swear we made it up. Every kid raised in the 90's knows what ska is and every Christian in the 90's wasn't allowed to watch anything because everything was evil.
Every home-school has suffered through Saxton math and years and years of Ancient Egyptian studies.
It just happens.
Its the uncommon commonalities that I find fascinating.

When I was a little kid, visits to my grandparents always held certain consistencies.
There would always be gifts. (things like loose grapes. yard sale underwear. sand pales. used lip stick)
There would always be mass quantities of various potato based dishes.
And there was always strawberry jello.
My grandmother would always get frozen strawberries to add to the jello, but since jello is one of the grossest foods of ever, I would always just eat the frozen strawberries.
Even now as an adult, I still love frozen strawberries. My roommate got me a nice blender for Christmas and I have been trying different smoothies. I have discovered though that I really prefer to just the frozen smoothie mix to the actual smoothie.
Weird I know. I thought I was the only one who enjoyed eating frozen fruit.
Till today. I went to get some groceries and was going to buy some frozen fruit when I found they now sell serving sized cups of frozen fruit. Designed to store and eat frozen.
I am not the only one!
Cool.
When I was a teenager I was obsessed with being different. I tried some weird styles to look apart from everyone else. I didn't like popular things. (if you are thinking 'gah she has always been a hipster' i will be very offended (which makes me more of a hipster! ahhhh!) )
What I didn't know was, I'm pretty different already I don't really have to try very hard. (this is in a making fun of myself way not in a braggy way)
And also, those uncommon commonalities are pretty awesome.
CS Lewis once said: "“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”
Its a cool way God gave us to connect with those around us.
And sometimes it can start with something little like a common love for Five Iron Frenzy and turn into something great.
You never know :)

If there are other people in this world sitting at home with blue stained fingers (an unfortunate side-effect of eating frozen blueberries I discovered too late into an afternoon outing one day) just like myself, then who knows the possibilities.



Afterall, we are all apart of the same giant yarnball :)