The everyday struggle
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April 26, 2010 • Erin Johnston, Guest Contributor
Filed under 2009-2010
It’s not easy being an average teenager. Life is like a roller coaster. It is often filled with boring school nights and drama-filled weekends. With all this come the average grades, average looks, average talents and average clothes.
“Well, being average is so boring. Living everyday, following everyone else’s examples and norms. No spice in your life. The problem with being average is everyday is the same because average people don’t take risks,” local student Ian Blodgett said.
And Ian has a point. Studies show that those who follow the basic path in life will graduate high school, attend a community college, get married, have one to three kids, follow a structured religion and join a community organization.
“I work at customer service for a phone company. I make 12 bucks an hour but that’s all I need. I don’t go out too much and I like to watch T.V. I can’t afford a car so I use public transportation. And I am not very good with women; I am just a regular, everyday, normal guy,” says aspiring musical artist Jon Lajoie, “And I make pretty good spaghetti sauce.”
Every country has some abstract personification who represents the average person. In America, it’s John Doe, or John Q. Public, or Jose Six Pack or G.I. Joe; in Russia, Ivan Ivanovich; in China, Chang San. We often see these characters in editorial cartoons as exaggerated caricatures.
And Chugiak local Katrina Phillips can attest to that. “I don’t like to stand out. Blending in with the crowd is what I do best, and I like to keep it that way.” When asked why, Katrina claimed, “It’s awkward getting stared at, knowing that people are judging you. It’s just bizarre and uncomfortable for me.”
One student claims otherwise, “’Cause the word ‘average’ these days is considered fake. Average people are the ones who try to hard to create an image that they think everyone will like. When in reality, in the future, no one will care about all the average people and the ‘average’ people most likely won’t be very successful. I choose to be different because I am different. And don’t like the way the average people present themselves,” claims Tatiana Athanasiou.
But then the question becomes: What isn’t normal? Is anyone abnormal? And what are the struggles of the abnormal person?
