How much effort do you put into being "normal"?

[manic_depressive13]

It's hilarious how normal everyone who thinks they're not normal actually is. I don't put effort into being normal because I am. It's not like I shit in public or sniff people's hair on the bus. Some people may disapprove of my interests, dress code or minor eccentricities, but it's normal to want to express my percieved individuality. It's equally normal to want to conform. These are both quite typical patterns of human behaviour.

 

[Chased]

Everyone has their own unqiue perception of what normal is based on a massive conglomerate of personal events that have shaped their version of reality. Therefore "normal" is an individual construct that holds little similarities from one person to the next.

 

[Zantos]

I have a filter between every single thought going through my mind and my mouth. It occasionally kicks in. Then there's a second filter for things that get rejected in the first but could be funny in the situation, that usually makes an appearance when I've been drinking. Nothing else really.

 

[idodo35]

not much but to be fair i am in "geeky company" almost 24/7 my class my friends and pretty much anyone else i hang out with also i dont have much stuff (that i can think of) that might disturb/offend anyone so its just talking about casual things instead of 24/7 comics continuity lessons to my buddies (cause none of them read comics )

 

[ace_of_something]

I have a really strong urge to lecture everyone i see on what they're doing wrong. Thinking of the grocery store:
"Why would you get in the express lane with 20 items? Each yogurt counts as an item!"
"You are standing in the exact center of the aisle? You know this right? No one can get around you!"

Stuff like that crosses my mind but I don't say it. Unless the person is actively being a jerk to someone else, like yelling at a cashier about how they misunderstood a sale sign.

Then I have to say something usually "He doesn't set the prices ma'am why're you yelling at him?". Mostly because then they say like "who the fuck do you think you are telling me what to do!?" then I show them my (deputy sheriff's) badge and say "This is who I am. Now, let's all be nice."

It makes my day.

 

[Emperor Nat]

And by that I mean, how much effort do you put into covering up your little idiosyncrasies and personality quirks to fit in with your peers, not get funny looks at the grocery store, get along with your parents, etc.

Spoiler: My Example

For me, a big one is talking to myself. Not like a schizophrenic talks to themselves, like there's another person inside their head (though the association with mental illness seems to be why it's such a cultural taboo). Most of the time, I'm either trying to work through some problem in my head and talking myself through it, or I'm imagining myself in some type of social situation and rehearsing what I would say out loud. Sometimes, it's just muttering a song to myself while I'm running errands. I try to avoid doing it as much as possible, but sometimes I wonder if more people don't do it when they think nobody's looking.

I talk to myself in rehearsal, in contemplation (for instance when playing a game I sometimes end up talking randomly about whatever topic springs to mind) and as a genuine conversation. Voices usually come in the form of parts of my personality. It's not a schizophrenic thing, I can turn it off as soon as I want to, but I like arguing with myself.

An example is the fact that I'm an ardent meat-eater, and I repeatedly have had arguments with an imaginary vegitarian in my head. Technically it's just the counter-point rationalisation of the part of me that thinks animals are cute. But it doesn't sound quite as funny when you tell people.

Which leads us to the thread's actual topic. I don't, at all. I don't care if people think I'm weird or whatever. I like being me. It's fun. I get to argue with imaginary freakin' vegitarians.

 

[Geekosaurus]

Surely that's self-contradictory? If you're putting in a lot of effort into changing how others see you, you aren't being normal?

 

[Continuity]

I do what I have to to live and work in society without anyone bothering me and thats about it. I'm basically anti social, I like being alone, being with other people makes me uncomfortable.. its an effort that i'd rather not put up with, but I have to work and shop etc so there you have it.

 

[Edd4224]

Whereas most animals have something that can be recognised as that animal (cat is a cat, dog is a dog etc.) humans do not.

This statement confuses me.
Care to explain what you mean here?

Sorry to be confusing, It's an attempt to describe a word that I forgot which I think might be archetype? Basically I saw it on QI once the question was something like who is the typical man or something like that.

Basically an individual that demonstrates all the traits of a species within themselves and allows us to tell them from other similar species, hence the cat and dog. Again I apologise for the confusing description.

 

[Queen Michael]

A friend of mine, who's a girl, was going to talk to me about her love life over MSN messenger. She often jokes that I'm her gal-pal (I'm actually a dude) who she talks with about love stuff. So now when she said "Gal-pal, I've got romance stuff to talk about" I went and put on a skirt, pantyhose and a girl's top, and then I put on nail polish. Why? I want to be a convincing gal-pal.

Does that answer your question?

 

[Aj Byrne]

Ill do my own damn thing
i dont want to be "normal"

 

[Darh Abdomino]

zero. none. You people are lucky that I'm wearing pants. Fortunately, most of my "quirks" as you put it, have to do with sarcasm, mockery, tormenting the stupid and frustrating the slow.

 

[Logic 0]

It doesn't really come up much since I just blend in normally.

 

[cerealnmuffin]

I care a lot about what others think unfortunately and I try to adapt to whoever I am talking with. Like if they swear a lot, I might start swearing some. Maybe it would be better if I was more normal, but I am very awkward socially and shy which some people find endearing. I tell observational jokes that sometimes I'm the only one who gets, The other day I tried going to a foreigner bar (I live in korea) to meet some friends and I ended up rambling about classical music early in a conversation. I'm not very assertive and I have little self confidence, sometimes I feel odd for being a girl who actually cares who wins the starcraft 2 tournament and if Gregory was a real beetle in the Metamorphosis or just the character's delusion. I couldn't care less about celebrities and facebooking, so sometimes I feel out of place when hanging our with other girls. My mom says I also dress like I'm a guest at a wedding (I only wear skirts and dresses) which people treat me odd for never wanting to pants and t shirts. (I feel ugly so I like to look nice via clothes).

TLDR: I'm a huge wallflower that despite being a bit odd no one seems to notice my existence. Though I wished they would.

 

[Cpu46]

I'm not terribly comfortable with a large amount of attention. Unfortunately for me I also have a mind that makes no attempt to have any semblance of order or logic. My train of thought left the station, fell into a wormhole, and has been teleporting around randomly ever since. If there really were telepaths who could read my mind I wouldn't have to worry because there would be no way in hell that they could make heads or tails of anything in my head. It tends to be fun times and it helps me be creative as all hell but also tends to draw attention so I hold myself back more often than not. I always go over what I am going to say, sometimes minutes in advance. I constantly check to make sure I am not saying what I am thinking or singing aloud, usually by biting the inside of my cheek. The conversations I have where I don't keep tabs on what I say tend to contain more non sequiturs than the average Family Guy season.

So yea, I put a lot of effort into it. I doubt I could stop even if I tried.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

Absolutely none. I'm not going to lie and say that my quirks don't cause me problems. But I'd rather be troubled and myself than "normal" and false.