This morning at church I was standing normally in the pew during the singing portion, and every Sunday the people are invited to shake hands and talk with the people around them. It's a nice thing to do, and as long as I don't think about people having coughed into their hands previously I'm okay with it.
At one point I was drawn into conversation with a matronly-looking woman to my left, who asked the generic questions (one of which was if Will was my boyfriend *headdesk*. This is becoming a disturbing trend.) about school and such. After saying that her grandchildren went to a nearby school I could tell that she was either going to ask if I knew them or what school I went to, so I said, "I was homeschooled all my life, so I don't think I know them..."
"Oh, okay," she said, and we continued talking about whatever for another minute or so. Then, out of the blue, she says, "You know, you're really well-adjusted for being homeschooled."
My reaction (mental): *sarcasm* "Yay for me!"
My reaction (outward): "That's kind of a common misconception about homeschoolers..." *enter spiel about said misconception*
Now, the people who AREN'T homeschooled might not get this. But the most common misconception about homeschoolers is that they are social misfits who are maladjusted or have an idealogical misconception about the world. (Try saying that five times real fast.) What I don't get is how by not being 'average' teenagers (read: difficult, sarcastic, and wordly) that homeschooling is somehow considered a bad thing. Sure, there are kids who ARE weird and socially maladjusted in a bad way, but that's really a minority.
Ironically, this lady then started talking about her 16-year-old granddaughter who is going through all sorts of drama and trauma in high school, suffered from anorexia when she was 13 (13?? That is not normal, woman!), etc. This gave me a pretty good opportunity to defend homeschooling and inform her that I never went through all of the hysterics of high school, but I digress.
I guess my point is, why do people make these assumptions and then act surprised when the opposite proves true? Believe me, between people assuming that Will and I are somehow boyfriend/girlfriend *shuddershudder* and that by being homeschooled we're outcasts of society I'm about to snap. BE INFORMED, PEOPLE!!! *spit snarl hiss*
...okay, I'm better now. Just...don't tell me I'm maladjusted. Because if maladjusted means deviating from the normal standards and wanting to stay out of the mirey cesspool of the average public school, I'm all for it.
Your irritated hostess,
Da Fox