I am all for non-conformity

Jeff McKay

"You're unique, just like everybody else." I don't know who even makes those tee shirts with the clever quotes on them, but that one's got it right! I am all for non-conformity, but the whole "being different" thing has been beat with the over-done stick.

Those who spent their time and hard-earned cash to get their hair sliced, diced, and molded into a Mohawk and dyed every other color in the spectrum are now no different than the chick who's daddy bought her the latest designer shoes.

A pity too... remember how it was, when punk rockers gave us an excuse for liberation, and the cultural revolution of the 60's was still just as strong as it was in the days of Woodstock? It was teenager rebellion, power to the people, fight the man, defy your parents, and so on.

Wild colors showed not only in clothing but in the hair and nails of the youth, until the underground vibe of death metal and European underworld symphonies brought out the darkly clad "Goth" in all of us. A blundering government gave us a target for our anger and displeasure with the "oppression" teenagers faced.

The rift between the normal and the anti-normal had formed a "Grand Canyon" in societies around the world, and all was well.

But then, clever corporate America noticed what was happening, and exploited it. Music Television (MTV) and Hot Topic were born, making it cool to be punk, or cool to be gothic... and the few became the many, and the many became (shudder) the trendy.

Now-a-days, I can go nowhere without seeing the symbols that once belonged to that specific group of social outcasts: girls in pink wearing one-inch spikes/studs around their waists, jocks and pretty boys wearing black nail polish, and so on. It is all a trend no, and just another way to be "cool."

But actually, it isn't really all that bad. Sure, we sacrifice most of our individualism and try through most of our teenage years to fit it. But do we really need more battle lines drawn in the dirt to separate this type of person and the other? After all, we are all human, aren't we?

So hey, the next time you come to school with liberty spikes, oddly colored nails, and spikes, ask yourself if you are doing it truly to stick out, or to get attention. And remember: someone else is always either doing or going to do the same thing. Now, I am not saying to disappear into the masses; come on, be yourself, be out there, and be a freak - make a mark upon the people around you. Just make sure it is your idea.