The grumpier you are, the more they love you!
The grumpy kid makes friends quickly in the minefield of today's playground. His wandering scowl turning to a single raised eyebrow of disdain as his judgement, so recently germinated from his cunning mind, is about to be set forth among the innocent, waiting crowd.
Like fireballs he sets forth, the monkey bars raised to the ground by a slight shaking head, a gentle downturn of the lip. The grumpy kid lays waste.I sat back in awe. I'm in Grade 4 and terrified. Most of my schooling time is spent in awkward effort to fit in and be picked for the cricket teams. I could play, and I loved it, but I was never the best. The most frequently written word on my report cards.. "..has more potential, should apply himself". Well frankly miss, I'm not sure what 'apply myself' means, and lets be honest, thats mostly your fault...
So as i watched this kid, who was kind-of surly, a lot of the time (lets call him the Grumpy Kid), as he swaggered across the playground, his sullen face only matched by his laziness.
Nobody would cross this kid. Kids are pretty sensitive to energy, and this kid was bad. Like Michael Jackson Bad. He wore his dads blue, red and elastic white jacket, three or four sizes too big for him. He took balls from the sports shed, without asking. He was a badass. The boys were afraid of him. The girls seemed bewitched by him. The grumpy kid, was... cool.
As I wander through my life now I've paused for a moment to remember that Grumpy Kid. I saw his style, his demeanour and his 'cool' as something tangible. Maybe even, reproducible. It was an epiphany which still resonates today. --- I May Not Be As Cool As I Thought I Was ---
This single, powerful realisation, as sad as it may seem today, led me to another pivotal decision of my young life. I decided to stop trying to be cool. Admittedly it had been an impotent effort anyway, why not focus on my strengths!?
So to all those youths, spongy and absorbable minds that you have, look around you! You are trying to be cool, which, by definition (given to us by the big, orangy-haired, girl) makes you UNcool. Learn from my years of neat and tidy shoes that mum was so proud of, learn from my "that's not bad its just mildly annoying" style, learn from my poor sporting, book reading, mum-politeness-being self! We are simply not cool!!
Observe the kids that are cool and see, as I did, that they are lazy! Grumpy! Kids!
.... But that particular Kid has no job and moved to Tasmania....
