Danny ChaiI’m definitely not normal, and I realize that, but every time I’m confronted with that fact it still surprises me a little. Makes me realize how steeped in the subculture I am.
Two recent examples. I dunno, in Silicon Valley, I think it’s “cool” or at least good to be a nerd. Someone calls you a nerd, it’s a compliment. Nerd just means smart. When the people upstairs call the downstairs engineers nerds, they’re saying we’re smarter than they are. All in all, a positive thing.
So I got surprised recently when someone didn’t take it that way and was indignant when he was called a nerd. To me, makes no sense, why wouldn’t you want to be complimented. But in normal society, I guess being called a nerd I guess is a putdown, means you’re overly intellectual or something, not socially competent, not balanced. But yeah, that this person was so vehemently against being a nerd, I was surprised.
The other thing is, I dunno, I think in the Christian subculture we value openness and honesty, and that’s a good thing. I’ve gotten so used to it that I just assumed that everyone values that. But they don’t. Especially outside the Christian subculture, some people aren’t open and don’t see why they need to be. I think I understand that, but it always surprises me when I see it.