I wish they'd conduct a national poll to find out who feels out of place and who doesn't. Just to get the numbers, you know? To get a feel for how many of us there are. Sometimes at work I get the feeling that it's got to be right up against 100%. Ill head out to the register to help out during the lunch rush and the new cashier will look so confused and lost, and then Ill look at the customers shes supposed to be helping, and theyll look lost, too, and then when I sneak a glance toward the tables therell be all these people staring at their food or at each other with blank looks in their eyes. And Ill think: Is this just me? Is everybody else actually fine, and Im just trying to imagine that theyre like me? But I dont think so. Ive thought about this a lot, and Im pretty sure that some ridiculous percentage of the population is walking around feeling like aliens. I think teenagers feel that all the time...
counter-culture counterculture disillusionment teenagers
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About John Darnielle

John Darnielle was American singer-songwriter. John Darnielle is an American musician and novelist best known as the primary, and originally sole, member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, pianist, and vocalist. He has written three novels: Wolf in White Van (2014), Universal Harvester (2017), and Devil House (2022). Read more on Wikipedia →

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