FeelGooder Asks: What Weirds You Out?

My week has been 100% weird. I know that sounds dramatic—it may be a slight exaggeration—but it made me wonder:

What weirds you out?

Don’t get me wrong: sometimes, weird is good. Sometimes, it’s not, but sometimes, weird is fine. This week, for example, things seemed to be going my way, but not as I’d intended. Weird. I mean, what is that? How can things go your way, but not as you’d intended?

To be honest, I was wavering on last week’s motivation to take a course so I could learn to teach English and thinking maybe I shouldn’t commit myself to a new course of study. More honesty: I’d vowed some years ago never to undertake another formal qualification, unless it was purely for fun (I really hated school).

I started out wanting to study this course so I could improve my overseas travel potential. Of course, in the back of my mind it seemed entirely logical for a writer to study the way English is taught—especially a writer of educational materials. And suddenly I was thinking about breaking my little old vow. Hmm.

But as the days passed I started wondering if that was such a good idea (I really hated school). Maybe I should give it more thought, put it off, see how I felt in a few months’ time. This started seeming like a good idea. The course is pretty expensive, and, after all, I really hated school.

Meanwhile, in the background, I was pitching an article to a magazine about a social issue, and hoping that I could write something that would bring attention to an issue I cared deeply about. I’d been looking for an angle for ages, and then one popped up! Amazing! I pitched the article, and the magazine said yes! Even more amazing! Everything was rosy! …Until further research showed the premise for the piece to be unfounded. Darn.

So I was a bit disgruntled by the time I got into a taxi the other night and met an Indian whose grandfather, father, and brother are writers in India. He had excellent English, but explained that he was unlikely to pass his citizenship test because of his oral expression.

“But you’re a great English speaker!” I cried.
He shook his head.
“Not good enough,” he replied.

Suddenly, the idea of taking the language course was cast in a whole new light. I could help people with this, and use it make a difference on an issue I cared about. And so I realized that my vow was outdated, and I decided to take the course.

Like I said, weird. Some chance meeting makes me happily break a decade-long promise in the quest to help others? I think I found a path to fulfilment, but not in the places I was looking for it? Put like that, my life is beginning to sound more like a cheesy chick-flick than ever! And I hate cheesy chick-flicks! Weird.

What about you? What weirds you out?