During the break, my friend, Gino, asked me to listen to “Margaret vs. Pauline,” a song detailing the lives of a perfect Pauline and a less-than-so Margaret.
We all know the story.
“Everything’s so easy for Pauline,” the song tells us. She has good looks and is charming.
Margaret, on the other hand, is rash in her emotions, and her hair doesn’t always fall perfectly, but something about her makes her darker and rougher around the edges so, in some manner, superior to Pauline.
He asked me, “Which are you?”
I wanted to say Margaret, I really did.
Everyone loves an underdog. We cheered for B-Rabbit in “8 Mile” and were shaken when the Permian Panthers lost at the end of “Friday Night Lights.” The story of someone beating the odds is not only rare, but it excites us and warms us up inside. We empathize; they win, we win. I’m not discrediting this. I’m sure we’ve all been the underdog in some situation or other, but I fear that we may be taking it too far and shaping our natural persona to fit that of the underdog.
Let’s be real—we can’t all be Bella Swan or Susan Boyle.
We can’t all be the quiet girls in the corner who no one notices until some super attractive guy moves in and sweeps us off our feet. We can’t all be the wimpy guys no one believes in until they make it big. Not everyone can be the underdog. Some of us have to be the backdrop to the story of the underdog’s success.
In “Girl Next Door,” Saving Jane said, “She’s the prom queen and I’m in the marching band.”
Well, OK. So what? Good for you and good for her. I’m sure both girls have wonderful qualities and will be equally apt in attracting mates or whatever it is they want. I’m not going to discredit the prom queen on the basis that she doesn’t have a sappy story to sell me or even assume she doesn’t have a sappy story.
What’s so wrong about being successful? Since when is adversity endearing? We would rather be active in putting ourselves down than admitting that we are simply mediocre.
Some of us have to be the average Joes so others can stand out, but please don’t disqualify us. Sure, we may not be socially awkward or shy or with the band, but I’d like to think that we are just as capable of engaging in deep thought as the next person.
I’m not simply complaining about the fact that my life has been so blessedly average. It’s not that I’m not in support of the underdog. It’s that I would like to discourage the active attempts to be the underdog. If you are average, well gosh darn it, be proud of that. Please don’t lower yourself in an attempt to make yourself more notable or darling or sympathetic.
I remember once watching an episode of some TV talent show during its the audition stage. It seemed as if every sad story was topped by yet another sad story. I’m not a total witch. I feel for these people. But come on. Your cat didn’t have to be run over nine times only to come back to life and ultimately succumb to a cold for me to enjoy your talent.
I wanted to say I was Margaret. I’m a real person with real emotions and real problems. I can be profound. I’m not just some shallow and superficial bimbo. But the harder I tried to be Margaret and the more I thought about the ease with which I have handled challenges, the more I realized that I was destined to be Pauline. Most things have come relatively easy for me as long as I’ve worked at them a sufficient bit, my looks are fairly average and I’m not terribly socially awkward.
That’s all right, though. Everyone can be average as long as we at least try to see the charm and depth and use in average instead of requiring people to have some dark and secret side to them to be of worth.
Sure, you may be the next Bill Gates, but in the event that you aren’t, stick to your computer science degree because sometimes being average can be an all right thing.
