Did you fit in in high school?

There is only one criterion necessary to being my friend. I am friends only with people who did not fit in in high school.

When I went off to college, I chose the school I did for two reasons: (1) I did not have to take any math for the entire four years; and (2) the institution of higher learning was known as the "Ivy League for misfits." No one there was "normal." It was a society of nonconformists. My pink and blue hair and sixteen silver, flesh-mutilating appendages had no effect on anyone. No one looked twice at my general wardrobe choice of brown polyesther leisure suits. It was heavenly.

Now I work in an office comprised of people who didn't fit in in high school. Folks don't enter my line of work because they conform to social norms. Rather, they enter this line of work because they hate the way society is ordered these days. I was talking to a colleague of mine who was ranting and raving about how much he hated people. I asked him why he entered a profession where one must deal with people on a daily basis. I asked him why he committed himself to helping people when he hates them so much. His response encapsulated so much of what I love about what I do and what I love about the types of people I find myself around:

"I may hate people, but I hate the government more."

And that sort of comment can only come from someone who didn't fit in in high school.