Today I was watching the Tyra Banks show. Most of my friends don’t like Tyra because they say that she thinks she’s all that. They say that she should act normal. I personally like her but I know what they mean. Here in the Netherlands everybody is really down to earth, a person that acts like Tyra does will be called arrogant or something like that. Because her behaviour is different from what people over here are used to. And even though I have never been to the United States I have heard people say that Tyra’s behaviour is common over there. So it’s very likely that a super modest and down to earth person from the Netherlands will be told to act normal over there. That makes me wonder; how could one define normal?

I have a friend that starts drinking wine at twelve in the afternoon. To me, that’s not normal because I get up at that time. Something that to most people isn’t normal either. And I could give many other examples like that. So it’s obvious that everybody has a different normal. That’s logical since everybody lives his life in his own way. I guess that normal is nothing more than something that is usual. This is actually confirmed by an online dictionary:

nor?mal

1. conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.

2. serving to establish a standard.

Reading this definition my conclusion is as follows; Normal is just a word that is serving to establish a standard which comes from things, thoughts or actions that are usual. So in a way, I guess the word is used incorrectly. We are already acting normal when we are acting as usual. Even if it’s a little different than others are used to.

According to this conclusion it is not normal to be the only one in college that has a career in modeling on the side. Since nobody else in that same college does it. But calling it abnormal makes it sound so negative. When it’s actually something that a lot of people want. So people prefer to call it special. Which has a more positive ring to it, but actually has the same meaning.

That makes me wonder though why everybody is always telling each other to act normal. Is it just because they are afraid to become abnormal when everybody around them starts acting different? Or is it because people only like people they can relate to (or believe that they can relate to)? Maybe it’s because people love habits and can’t stand things that are not ordinary? Well, whatever it is I know that I will never listen to them!

Now start acting normal again! Like you’re used to…

Marcia Farias,

My website & my Myspace