Uniquely Normal.

Uniquely Normal
There once was a girl who didn’t quite fit in. One might say that her hair was pulled back too tight, or that her blouse was one shade too bright. While both of these were problems, they were not the girl’s main flaw. Her downfall stemmed from the core of her being, from the very center of her soul. This girl was a plain girl, an ordinary girl, a normal girl. She was average, typical, and common. For this reason, she did not fit in. She was an outcast, but she did not mind. She simply went about living her life, undeterred in her ways, and marginally happy. Her name was Katie.
One day, however, Katie grew tired of being alone and longed for a companion. Decidedly, she began looking for a friend. Her first step in the process was to think. Katie chose to make a stop at the local Café to get a warm cup of coffee while she stewed over her options. Whilst in line, she chose to be bold and sparked a conversation with the fellow in front of her. He had a scraggly beard, a yellow sock hat, green and brown flannel shirt, tight corduroy pants, and lace-less tennis shoes. “What an odd looking man,” Katie thought. “I should ask him what he is ordering.”
“Excuse me, sir. What are you drinking today?” asked Katie.
The man looked down at her with a slight sneer, and exhaled before replying, “My usual, of course. A venti-soy-chai-latte with sugar-free-amaretto hold-the-foam plus a double-shot-of-espresso and sprinkled with nutmeg. How about you?”
“Just a plain coffee, I guess. With a little cream and sugar,” said Katie.
“Ah-ha, that’s rich. A plain coffee? How boring.”
Katie paused, “Oh. Do you come here often?”
“No, I’m just running late today. I generally prefer to give my business to less commercial cafés than this. Can you believe that they purchase their coffee beans in bulk here?”
“That’s just… awful,” mused Katie.
“Listen, not to be rude, but I was in the process of listening to The Okie-Pokie Swimmers before we started chatting, and I would like to get back to that,” asserted the man.
“Okie-Pokie Swimmers? Never heard of them,” replied Katie.
“No one has,” said the man as he turned around and slipped his headphones over his ears.
A little disgruntled, Katie got her coffee and decided to take a stroll down Main Street, as the weather was very fair and she felt she could use a little fresh air. On her walk, she wandered upon the local YMCA, and thought it might be a good idea to go inside. After all, she was looking to make friends, and what better way than sign up for a community activity? Once inside, she scanned the main lounge and quickly located the front desk. As she approached the desk, she noted the wary glance that the receptionist threw her way. The woman at the desk had striking features: bold eye brows and high cheekbones that were accentuated by the short, blunt bangs zigzagging across her forehead. She was wearing an expensive-looking shimmery top with black leggings and worn-out cowboy boots. Katie decided to compliment the lady’s top in order to begin conversation.
“I really like your, top; it looks expensive! Wherever did you get it?” asked Katie.
The receptionist responded, “Well, I buy most of my clothing secondhand. You probably wouldn’t be able to find another like it. And it wasn’t expensive in the least bit; I only paid $3.”
Katie exclaimed, “What a steal! I will have to remember to shop secondhand sometime.”
“Oh yes, secondhand shopping is becoming quite popular nowadays. If everyone keeps doing it, I will have to end up making my own clothes just to have anything decent to wear!”
A little confused, Katie said, “Oh. Well, anyway I was interested in joining some sort of activity to meet people. I was thinking of possibly yoga, or some sort of scrapbooking club. Do you have any kind of information like that here?”
“We offer a wide variety of unique activities, but many of them are individually led and developed. We have a creative cookware group, a swim-and-paint watercolor group, and a livestock literacy group that all have openings. Would you be interested in any of those?” asked the woman.
“No, that’s okay. I will check back some other time,” replied Katie.
A little discouraged, Katy left the YMCA and headed home. She had not succeeded in finding a friend. All she discovered was that she was more obscure than she thought. She began to wonder if she would ever fit into this world. She wanted to be the same as everyone else, to be a part of the mainstream. Unfortunately, it seemed as if she was destined to never fit in, and always be different.