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It was a Sunday morning and I woke up with a hangover next to my off-and-on-again hookup. His scarcely decorated, stereotypical guy bedroom was not unfamiliar as this escapade somehow began close to three years ago with the initial intent of us actually dating. He rolled over and the first thing he said to me was how badly he wanted to eat rotisserie chicken. It was 8 a.m. The conversation that followed began with discussing his friendship with a former Bachelor star and ended with debating the estimated resale value of his childhood holographic Pokemon cards while listening to the Pokemon theme song.
Although the realization had occurred before on several occasions (like when he told me about his hoop earring fetish, or when we planned hookups to include watching a Netflix documentary before we got to the physical stuff), I found myself very aware in that moment of how weird the guy I once thought was completely out of my league truly was.
And it was kind of great.
As kids, we were always taught that being different was a good thing, and being a unique individual was better than being one of the crowd. But then we hit middle school/high school and that uniqueness didn’t make you friends and being popular was better than being lonely and different. The good thing is that they say the older you get, the less you care about what other people think which I definitely agree with. There’s not enough time in the day to be constantly concerned if your overenthusiasm for a new foreign film or the upcoming lumberjack convention is putting people off.
Dating means you get another chance at the joy of experiencing lots of weird, the majority not being the good kind. Get on any dating app and you have an influx of weirdos ranging from manageable weird to I’m too creeped out by your message and don’t want to end up locked in your basement and you are now blocked. Everyone has something about them that I’m sure someone else would call weird or different or quirky. Yes, even that hot girl you think wouldn’t give you the time of day has something random she loves a little more intensely than the average person. And you can work that to your advantage meaning she’s more accessible than you think.
As we’ve established everyone has a touch of quirk, but the trick is finding someone who has your same level of quirk. Or, at least, a level that you can handle being around for extended periods of time. Because isn’t that really all anyone wants at the end of day? Someone to accept your love of fencing and Clash of Clans and obscure podcasts? Perhaps if we just accepted this fact, the dating game would be a little easier.
Long story short, we’re all weird and the sooner we embrace that, the better off we’ll be. Being weird keeps life interesting and I’ll take that over boring any day. And as Dr. Seuss reminds you at every white girl’s wedding: “We are all a little weird, and life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” .
Image via Unsplash
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Whatever Lola Wants
Outward appearance of being a hot mess with just enough Type A personality to not be a complete disappointment to my parents. Almost as good at avoiding commitment as I am at holding my liquor.
@LauraMeinert
Stay weird, Lola.
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L-O-L-A, LOLA!
Short, sweet, and simple.
I love that CoC is frequently dropped in columns here. We should make a PGP clan. For all of us weirdos…
Clash of Clans and a long subscription list of obscure podcasts are basically how I get through the workweek.