In case you haven't guessed this about me, I totally enjoy a good shenanigan. By this, I mean "anything that goes outside of normal expectations for that situation.". This has served me better in my adult life than it did in, say, high school, where rule-following is not only the norm, it is required, but also where I once was kicked out of an English class for giving what the teacher, MRS. BEVERLY KNOWLES, thought were answers that didn't conform enough to the set lesson plan, and since this made her job harder, she made it a point to make my life harder. I just thought you should know that if you're in high school and you have big ideas and a teacher like that to hold you back, it does get better, even though you will remember the name of that teacher and she will become something of a symbol of what it's like to be repressed by "The Man" when you're being original. Oh, and in case Mrs. Knowles was your favorite teacher and she changed your life, I'm totally glad for you– all I'm saying is that she didn't like me, and told everyone about it, which I think is the wrong way to handle a teenager with big ideas.
I don't know if "rule breaker" is the right word for what I am since I usually try to adhere to the laws, although if a rule is arbitrary and stupid enough that it comes to my attention or I think there is a better way to do something, that is certainly one that I will try to disregard. I think my friends in high school found this to be somewhat mortifying, and that teacher surely did, and yes, it is more than 20 years later and I still know her name and her face, and when people (like publishers and whatnot) say no to me, I just picture her face and how wrong wrong WRONG she was about me, and I laugh and keep trying to achieve the goal I was trying to achieve. I guess what I'm saying is "Takes no for an answer" is not something that anyone would ever say about me, and I like that about myself.
For instance, if I am standing beside you after a flight, and we are waiting to pick up our luggage from the baggage carousel, and one of the bags gets stuck and makes it so no one else's bag can come out, and everyone is kind of staring at the bag, hoping things will just work themselves out….
I am the one that jumps on the baggage carousel and dislodges the bag. Every single time.
This is not a fictional example, people. I am actually that person– I have done this more than a few times, and each time people are a little mortified and there's an awkward silence, and then they fully start cheering me on.
Do I sometimes get yelled at by the baggage handlers?
Yes I do. I figure the yelling is a small price to pay for getting everyone's bags out of bag purgatory. Oh, and just to clarify– this is the only shenanigan I will consider at an airport. The rest of the time at the airport I consider "super serious" and conduct myself as such, because it is 100% not worth it to make a scene over the fact that you REALLY wanted to wear your bullet belt, and how come you have to take your shoes off, and your flight is delayed, and you really are just a douche who can't keep it under control, and if you let that get out of hand in the airport, you are going to jail. Generally speaking, yelling in the airport should never be done, though I would like to go on record as saying that those whole body scan machines totally violate people's right to privacy and I do not think those will last.
You might be wondering– do I have a blog called Funny Strange because I like a shenanigan and enjoy recording them when I see them?
Yes, and yes. Life is just too short to stand there and watch that bag being stuck in there, man. I am a firm believer that there is always a way (or a better way), and speaking of ways, you better get out of my way if a shenanigan is in effect, because frankly, your resistance is now part of the shenanigan for me and you will end up on this blog. Like, if you're a waiter, and you work at a restaurant, and I ask you if I can please buy one of the coffee mugs because my father in law likes them so much, and you immediately say "No, we used to sell those, but we are out of them," which makes no sense because I AM HOLDING ONE IN MY HAND, then I will feel free to go ahead and leave with that coffee mug in my bag and leave some extra money on the table, which technically is not stealing because I PAID FOR THE MUG YOU SAID WASN'T AVAILABLE LIKE YOU SAID I COULDN'T DO, and years later that's still my father in law's favorite mug and he laughs every time he sees it. Totally worth it, no one got hurt– classic shenanigan.
Come to think of it, these shenanigans usually involve people who work at minimum wage type jobs and don't really "think outside the box," so to speak, so I am the one who is left to come up with creative solutions in order to do what I want to do. This is often confusing or disturbing to the person working at the job, and if they ever comment on it, I usually say "no one ever got ahead in life by following all the rules," and this at least confuses them enough to shut them up and stop fixating on how it is 8:15 pm, and their store closed at 8:00pm, and how totally WRONG it is that I waited until someone left, then ran in the exit door to buy something because that's just the way it's going to be with me and you should come to peace with it.
Also not a fictional example. That situation actually went on for ten minutes or so while I patiently waited outside the grocery store for someone to come out while the kid who worked there kept staring at me and shaking his head, like "We are closed," and I'm like "Look at my face, I do not accept that" and before he knows it I dart in there and I'm already in line with my money out before he even knows what hit him. Shenanigan!
Not only do I like breaking the rules, but I also very much enjoy it when other people break them and tell me about it. I inherited this trait directly from my father, who (did I mention lately) REPEALED PROHIBITON in his county in Kentucky? He got LAWS CHANGED, people. That is one step up from a shenanigan.
Revolucion! I will throw it out to you now– do you also enjoy a shenanigan ? Please tell me your last one.
