Weird

 Okay, this won't come as a shock to most of my longtime readers and friends: I was called "weird" a lot when I was in school. 

Initially, back in elementary school, this caused me some pain. I didn't want to be lumped into the same category that would put me alongside that kid named Melvin who ate his own boogers. I understood that I was being categorized and eventually, with the love and support of my parents, I came to understand that being labeled "weird" by those around me was their way of making them feel less strange and more conforming to social norms. Social norms that were restrictive to the extreme and made some of them squeak from how tight they were. 

By the time I was in junior high, I had begun to embrace my weirdness. Nowhere was this more in evidence than in the cafeteria, where I carried my hand-painted lunchbox and sat, more often than not, alone so as to avoid any unnecessary mixing with anyone convinced that taking a swipe at me might cement their station in the "popular" crowd. I was in band. I played tuba. I wasn't going to break any barriers by joining a sports team or two. 

I did. 

It did not keep me from being seen as "weird." 

In high school I skipped the athletics and dug deeper into band. Joining the Pep Band pushed the "weird" needle into the red. Happily, I was surrounded by other "weird" folks, many of whom had memorized the same comedy records I had and were more than happy to camp out on the fringes of polite society. Being "weird" had become my badge of honor. 

To this day, when someone rolls their eyes at me and tells me how "weird" I am, it gives me enormous satisfaction. 

Now we are being told that "weird" is a slur. A great many MAGAts have taken umbrage to being called "weird." Which finally brings this thing full circle. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz got the ball rolling when he referred to the candidates on the Republican ticket "weird" in response to their ludicrous comments and stands. Those bullies who were tossing that word around back in grade school to make themselves feel better are finally getting a taste of their own medicine. 

Isn't that weird?