As are most people who decide to spend their free time writing weekly articles for a website, I am an introvert. I'd much rather spend a Saturday night wrapped up in a blanket with a few close friends binge watching "Galavant" than going out to a party or just meeting anyone in my dorm I didn't meet during the first two days of school. As with most people who fall into this category, I get viewed as a sort of quiet, artistic, shy sort of person. This is a stigma that while I don't fall entirely into, I can understand where it comes from, and therefore, don't get upset about.

However.

Many social stigmas have been afflicted upon me that I do not understand, and do get upset with. As a society, people have decided a series of things that make you a "normal person". Whatever that means. I object to this, as we are all twisted, backwards, derpy, awkward, socially inept, unique human beings who should be embracing our quirks, stigma free. Here are a few stigmas that need to stop defining people:

There is nothing wrong with sleeping in.

So long as the hours are made up later on, nothing is wrong about sleeping until 11 a.m., and I'm quite sick of the attitude people who wake up at 6:00 am have towards us night owls. Occasionally, I'll have a friend text me around nine in the morning on a Saturday (clearly this isn't a close friend yet, or they would know better) asking if I want to get breakfast. Around 11 a.m., I'll respond to this person with "sorry I just woke up." To which I'll get "WHAAAAT?!? You JUST woke up?? I got up six hours ago, ran three miles, wrote a research paper, practiced my cello, AND filed my taxes."

Good for you, fictitious friend. I stayed up until you went to bed playing Risk with my hall and watching "Bob's Burgers", and now as I awaken, the weather is warmer and I don't have to wait five hours for the cafeteria to open. People have different schedules. If someone's first event of the day is at 11:00 am, and their last ends at 10:00 pm, or later, don't expect them to be early to bed early to rise. There's a whole beautiful, quiet world out there that only us night owls get to know about, let us enjoy it guilt-free.

I'm not eating alone because I'm lonely.

I'm eating alone because I want to eat alone. This one seems to be hard to understand to some people. With my schedule, Wednesday ends up being a 10:00 am - 10:00 pm sort of day before I tackle practice and homework. This is pretty much back to back activity, except for one little ray of sunshiney peace between class and work. This takes place right after band, at 4:30, until I leave for work at 5:30. This is my time. I head into the cafeteria, set down my things at a nice, little booth away from society, grab myself a bowl of Lucky Charms, and tune out my brain with a Buzzfeed article about twelve celebrities who own exotic animals. Number seven did in fact surprise me. I am in a blissful, undisturbed, introverted, sugary state of peace.

Naturally, people have to feel bad for me. It's inevitable, I see them coming. This napkin holder is too small to hide behind. "Hey, do you want to join us?" No Stacy, I do not. We had ATC together one time, I know nothing about your friends, and I find you unpleasant. Apparently, that answer sounds sarcastic. So I leave my article about Beyonce's pet walrus, and take my cereal to go spend the next twenty minutes making uncomfortable small talk with Janet and Marvin about what a music major studies (the answer is music) and how it's possible to be a Christian in Las Vegas (sigh). Yes, thank you Stacy. This is a much better way to spend the evening.
I would like to clarify, that I do appreciate the thought by Stacy, who is fictitious as well, but realize that sometimes people eat alone by choice.

Appearance, Attire, and Attitude =/= Sexuality

The work I explained in the last paragraph is coaching a section of a high school marching band. Last month while working there, I had bleached blonde hair. During break, one of the kids asked me "what color is your natural hair?" and by the looks of their faces, they'd all wondered. Which was odd since I had a beard, but whatever. As I'm color deficient, I have no concept of how to explain my natural hair color, so I decide the best way to explain it would be by showing them a picture. The most recent picture of my natural colored hair was a selfie I took with my girlfriend.

I show the kids the picture, and they all looked at it the way a dog looks at a high pitched noise. Eventually, one of the girls with no filter asked me "who's that girl?" I told them "my girlfriend." To which, she yelled "You're straight?!?!?" Apparently, the entire section, and all the parents who had picked them up from rehearsal, had been referring to me as "the gay staff member." While I found this hysterical, this stigma needs to be eradicated in all directions.

Unlike the last two I discussed, this one I fully understand. I fit the stereotype like a glove. I had bleached blonde hair I styled up to the side, dressed in bright flashy outfits, speak in a soft, high-pitched register and had one ear pierced with a shiny stud, and accidentally used the phrase "football performance." Yes, I understand this stigma, and I'm very used to addressing it upon meeting people a second time.

But it needs to go away.

Here's a list of things that make you gay: Being attracted to the same gender
Here's a list of things that make you straight: Being attracted to the opposite gender
Straight men can love musicals. Gay men can be jocks. Straight girls can play softball. Lesbians can dream of being a Disney Princess. These things have no correlation.

Enough generalizations. Let people enjoy themselves. People wake up, go to bed, eat, dress and appreciate things differently; none of it defines who they are. We're all a big ol' bundle of different lifestyles, mindsets, religions, cultures, passions, political views, and any other qualifier that could be thought of. These things are what make the world function and leave a giant mess of stuff to learn and teach about. They aren't dividers, and they certainly aren't what define us. People are defined by who they are, not by someone else's concept of who they are.