I refuse to grow up & conform...

[KoDT69]

OK this will be a very long post, so I'll go ahead and apologize in advance. The first question I want to pose to the Playground... Does your employer expect you to be something you're not? My employer hired me as a testing Engineer and I somehow ended up getting pushed into front-end customer support engineering and invariably labeled as a "Sales Engineer" :smallfurious: WTF! So now they are expecting me to act like them, alter my work schedule to be like them, and stop associating with the other test techs and production people. They say I should be "above that"... What? I should claim some form of superiority over them because you slapped me into a cubicle beside the salespeople??? Funk dat. I've told them straight up to upper management that I refuse to act that way and I'll laugh all the way home if they want to fire me for it.

OK enough about that. Now for the not wanting to grow up :smallcool: I look at it this way, I do all the stuff a husband and father is supposed to do. I work my full-time job and pay for the bills and food and stuff. Why should I act my age other than that? I spend a lot of time with my 6 year old daughter, including watching her TV shows with her. Now I am 29, so I grew up when Nickelodeon had just started. She watches a lot of that now. Is it bad that I still enjoy watching it anyway? My wife gripes because I'll watch it even when my daughter is doing other stuff. How many of you do that? Let me give a quick rundown of what I like even though general opinions think I should not.

Zoey 101 - I admit the basis of the PCA school is very unlikely, but it made for a solid first season. Zoey is the prime example of girl power at an all boys school that just started letting in girls. Pretty standard archtype. Chase is a great supporting character. He is every other 13-15 year old boy, bumbling around girls and trying to keep out of trouble. Logan, yeah. Awesome actor there. He should have a good future.

Spongebob - Adult humor hidden in a kids show. Always good for a laugh.

Drake and Josh - You gotta love the evil little sister! Plus it has to be fun being Drake :smallsmile:

iCarly - A teenage girl with a web-show, a food crazy friend, and the weird neighbor kid that loves Carly. It's always entertaining, and I love the Spencer character. He's gotta be so dumb he can barely keep from killing himself, but always funny.

The Naked Brothers Band - I never dreamed I would like this show much less the music, but I can't help it! I saw one show and was hooked. Those kids are awesome! I actually bought the NBB CD :smallamused:

Hannah Montanna - Yup, my daughter decided to get into this and I got pulled in too. Miley Cyrus has built one of the biggest entertainment empires in existance in only 3 years. I thought the world was rid of Billy Ray Cyrus :smalleek: Obviously a decent parenting ability combined with his "was famous before so now he can still call in a favor for his daughter" status came in handy. She's got talent tho, so I can't hold it against her.

Who else out there is out of school but likes this stuff? I guess I jut have an appreciation for talent and clean family oriented stuff.

[OwlbearUltimate]

Spongebob - Adult humor hidden in a kids show. Always good for a laugh.

You can never get too old for Spongebob. Seriously, it is a timeless show I expect to be replayed years from now, and you now what, I'll still find it hilarious.

[mockingbyrd7]

Guilty as charged of the TV shows... although I am 13, after all. :smalltongue:

There's nothing wrong with "not growing up" as long as you can have fun spend quality time with your daughter while still setting a good, mature example for her.
As for the work conformity issue, I don't have any personal experience in that area but I agree with you 100%.

[Yoritomo Himeko]

Well, as long as you do what you're supposed to do, i.e. take care of your daughter, do your job, ect, I don't see what the problem is.

You didn't want the job, so why should they expect you to conform to it?

Watching and enjoying Nickelodeon, Spongebob and things like that are fine. I know quiet a few people in their 20's and 30's who collect action figures, play video games, and go on sites like myspace and Gaiaonline. They're all perfectly fine people.

As long as you're not trying to pick up underaged kids, acting like some kind of brat, or just being irresponsible, there's nothing wrong with still enjoying some of the things you did when you were younger.

[Muz]

Sounds to me like you're being a responsible adult and enjoying life the way you want to enjoy it. And what the heck is wrong with that?

There seem to be a lot of people out there who've "grown up" and conformed to the standard mold without really thinking about it; just doing what they see everyone else doing and what they're "expected" to do. Apparently giving up things you like--even if you don't have to--is a sign of maturity. Frankly I think that thinking for yourself is a sign of greater maturity. You support your family and you take care of your responsibilities to those you care about. Certainly sounds like you've fulfilled life's "have to's," and should therefore be free to pick whatever "want to's" you feel match your tastes.

So, in other words, kick ass, man. :durkon: :cool:

[Vella_Malachite]

Yep. Conformity is not my favourite thing. I deliberately don't conform to annoy conformists :smallamused:

Mind you, I'm the opposite of the growing up thing; I grew up too quickly. Now I laugh at the less mature of the human race and can poke fun at immaturity, laugh at adult humour in kids' shows and still be respected as an adult by the grown-up community, all while being less than twenty years old!

[wxdruid]

There are some things I won't give up no matter my actual age, among those are D&D, reading sci-fi/fantasy books, owning the complete collections of Darkwing Duck, the original Transformers, the original My Favorite Martian, Angel, Buffy, Airwolf and anything else like those. I like the fact my license plate says wxdruid.

I go to work, do my job and then do what I want on my off time, despite the fact my siblings and my parents think I'm crazy, and I don't care, it's what I like to do. :smallbiggrin: I support anyone who refuses to grow up all the way, there are far to many fun things.

[de-trick]

im 15 turning 16 in a couple of months and I love watching kid shows, I reemeber when spongebob first came out, wow that was awhile ago, but yah patrick is stupid and Mr. Krabs loves money

[Lady Tialait]

Good for you! I think it's wonderful that someone won't grow up quite all the way, because if you notice. Fully grown up people are boring. These are the kinda people who think D&D are for kids, Video Games are wastes of space, and a TV is for watching the news 3 times a day to see if someone else has been killed. I believe these gray faced people need to grow down.

Just a 2 cp. But ya'll know.

[Sammich]

Kids are humans in their purest form. As they grow older, they are exposed to the "real world", and are forced to join the hive or suffer alone. Those who don't are either strong or simply crazy. I'm the latter.

[skywalker]

Kids are humans in their purest form. As they grow older, they are exposed to the "real world", and are forced to join the hive or suffer alone. Those who don't are either strong or simply crazy. I'm the latter.When you grow up, your heart dies...[/squeaky voiced ally sheedy]

When I was between 12-16, I hated Sponge Bob. I thought it was very immature. My best friend's older brother was in college, and he loved Sponge Bob. Now, I'm in college, and I sit down and watch Sponge Bob at least once a week with my little sister. Such a good show.

[Jayngfet]

Honestly, I'd be hard pressed to name five live action shows I watched more that two episodes of, and a couple of those are for youngn's .

[bosssmiley]

When I was between 12-16, I hated Sponge Bob. I thought it was very immature. My best friend's older brother was in college, and he loved Sponge Bob. Now, I'm in college, and I sit down and watch Sponge Bob at least once a week with my little sister. Such a good show.

Ah, the old "When I was 16 I thought my father was an idiot. When I turned 19 I stood amazed at how much he'd learned in only three years" thing. Or possibly: "When I became a man I put away childish things. One of the things I put away was my teenage fear of being thought childish." :smallbiggrin:

As xkcd put it in one of the best, most 'always relevant' strips ever:


"We're the grown ups now, and it's our turn to decide what that means (http://xkcd.com/150/)."

If you'll excuse me, I'm off to spend my free time reading comic books, playing D&D, then going watch an "Indiana Jones" film. :smallwink:

[Zar Peter]

Hello, my name is Peter.

[audience voice]Hello Peter![/audience voice]

I'm 35 and I have three kids.

I love watching Disney cartoons, Spongebob and Kim Possible. In fact, when I bought a Kim Possible DVD for my kids I watched it alone first before my kids were allowed to watch it (because I wanted to watch it in english.)
I'm collecting Comics. All Asterix, Lucky Luke, and, most important, Don Rosa, Carl Barks and all (376 books) of Donald Duck Pocket books (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Duck_pocket_books)

Oh, yes, and I have a full time job I really like, enjoy playing DnD from time to time and drink beer with other adult friends of mine.
And I'm on my way to go cycling with my kids.

The only problem I have sometimes with parents of school mates from my son.
I often get an odd look when I mention that I like Spongebob or Kim Possible.

[Drascin]

Or possibly: "When I became a man I put away childish things. One of the things I put away was my teenage fear of being thought childish." :smallbiggrin:

Indeed, this Lewis Carroll quote is one of my mottos. I personally have always believed the only requirement of growing up is taking responsibility for your actions. Apart from that... go for whatever you find fun, man. I am 20 years old, right after that time where most people try way too hard to be "mature" (and most people my age still do), and I have little problems in watching and enjoying cartoons with my 6-years old sister, find series like Ducktales or Animaniacs unbelievably amusing, love "kiddy" videogames, and have a weakness for cute stuff to the point of having a Jirachi plushie right above my bed.

But then, I'm a professed Haruhiist. Of course I'll go for "fun" and "nice" over "expected" every single time - no problem with "conforming" if what you're conforming to is a philosophy right outta your own ideals, eh? :smallwink:

[PhallicWarrior]

There are two kinds of people in the world: people who are cool and hip and trendy, and who laugh in the face of those who aren't, and those who are not cool, but desperately want to be. An irritatingly small subgroup of the latter realizes that, not only are they just not cut out to be cool, being cool means being a jackass more often than not so why bother with it anyway?

One guess which of these groups I belong to. :smallbiggrin:

[Jokerz]

Heh. I'm 15 and I thought that that XKCD strip was pretty significant. My parents tell me to grow up and to be less childish.(i.e. stop reading fantasy novels, stop WRITING fantasy short stories, and to start watching Fox News) However, I am the one who is growing up and moving through the world. If I was not doing the dishes and throwing tantrums and such, I would realize their point. However, I've planned two family vacations, and my summer trip to England. (IS ANYONE ELSE GOING TO THE OXBRIDGE PROGRAM? I'M DOING THE FRESHMAN ONE!) At any rate, I fully support your decision. Conformity is sitting day afterr day doing the same thing over and over again with trivial differences and thinking that you're happy. No thanks.I'll take being my own (man? Teenager? Adolescent?) anyday.:smallamused:

[bosssmiley]

There are two kinds of people in the world: people who are cool and hip and trendy, and who laugh in the face of those who aren't, and those who are not cool, but desperately want to be.

Gross oversimplification is gross. /longcat parody

Not all cool people laugh at those who are not.
Not all unhip people are uncool.

[Hallavast]

OK this will be a very long post, so I'll go ahead and apologize in advance. The first question I want to pose to the Playground... Does your employer expect you to be something you're not? My employer hired me as a testing Engineer and I somehow ended up getting pushed into front-end customer support engineering and invariably labeled as a "Sales Engineer" :smallfurious: WTF! So now they are expecting me to act like them, alter my work schedule to be like them, and stop associating with the other test techs and production people. They say I should be "above that"... What? I should claim some form of superiority over them because you slapped me into a cubicle beside the salespeople??? Funk dat. I've told them straight up to upper management that I refuse to act that way and I'll laugh all the way home if they want to fire me for it.

OK enough about that. Now for the not wanting to grow up :smallcool: I look at it this way, I do all the stuff a husband and father is supposed to do. I work my full-time job and pay for the bills and food and stuff. Why should I act my age other than that? I spend a lot of time with my 6 year old daughter, including watching her TV shows with her. Now I am 29, so I grew up when Nickelodeon had just started. She watches a lot of that now. Is it bad that I still enjoy watching it anyway? My wife gripes because I'll watch it even when my daughter is doing other stuff. How many of you do that? Let me give a quick rundown of what I like even though general opinions think I should not.

Zoey 101 - I admit the basis of the PCA school is very unlikely, but it made for a solid first season. Zoey is the prime example of girl power at an all boys school that just started letting in girls. Pretty standard archtype. Chase is a great supporting character. He is every other 13-15 year old boy, bumbling around girls and trying to keep out of trouble. Logan, yeah. Awesome actor there. He should have a good future.

Spongebob - Adult humor hidden in a kids show. Always good for a laugh.

Drake and Josh - You gotta love the evil little sister! Plus it has to be fun being Drake :smallsmile:

iCarly - A teenage girl with a web-show, a food crazy friend, and the weird neighbor kid that loves Carly. It's always entertaining, and I love the Spencer character. He's gotta be so dumb he can barely keep from killing himself, but always funny.

The Naked Brothers Band - I never dreamed I would like this show much less the music, but I can't help it! I saw one show and was hooked. Those kids are awesome! I actually bought the NBB CD :smallamused:

Hannah Montanna - Yup, my daughter decided to get into this and I got pulled in too. Miley Cyrus has built one of the biggest entertainment empires in existance in only 3 years. I thought the world was rid of Billy Ray Cyrus :smalleek: Obviously a decent parenting ability combined with his "was famous before so now he can still call in a favor for his daughter" status came in handy. She's got talent tho, so I can't hold it against her.

Who else out there is out of school but likes this stuff? I guess I jut have an appreciation for talent and clean family oriented stuff.

Hmm... fascinating.

You have a wife, child, and what sounds like a respectable, well-paying job which you are good enough at to make your employers have second thoughts about firing you for inconsequential matters...

And yet, you still are able to find things about which to bitch and moan.

That's talent, my friend.

[skywalker]

Heh. I'm 15 and I thought that that XKCD strip was pretty significant. My parents tell me to grow up and to be less childish.(i.e. stop reading fantasy novels, stop WRITING fantasy short stories, and to start watching Fox News) However, I am the one who is growing up and moving through the world. I think you might have missed the point of eggman's quote... but I'll give you the BoftheD, come back in about 4 years and we'll see how you feel then.

That is my absolute favorite XKCD comic :smallbiggrin:

[Thufir]

On conforming: I used to be really self-conscious about the fact I was so different, worried people would laugh at me. Then after a while I realised that those people have no bearing on my life, so why should I care? Now I actually revel in the fact that I'm so far from normal.

On maturity: As a wise man once said (OK, actually it was me), "The essence of true maturity is knowing when it's OK to be childish."

[thubby]

being concerned with being childish is childish. I'll be me, whatever that may be, and so long as I'm happy and not hurting anyone *dances*
though over all i tend to be "mature" by default, or so I'm told. *shrugs*

I don't like a lot of those shows because of the anvilicious aesops, but who can deny spongebob?

[Gem Flower]

Blech. Giving up fun things because other people think you're stupid? Geez.:smallannoyed: I watched my brother ditch D&D 'cuz he was being considered "uncool" or (as he puts it) "Not G". What the heck???? Come on. Well, that was my ranting about my brother for today.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

I'm 26. Can't say I care for those particular TV shows mentioned in the original post, but sometimes I hear a song on the radio I really like, then find out that usually the biggest fans of that song are teenage girls. And I'm like, is something wrong with me? :smalltongue: (Though this hasn't happened recently since I haven't really listened to the radio for the past year.)

My family likes to say that we practice "reverse snobbery" which I think is a sort of nonconformity. For an example, we think you're cool if you found that shirt at Salvation Army for 99 cents, but if we see someone who is a walking advertisement for overpriced brand-name clothing we think, "What a sucker. He/she fell for slick marketing and materialism."

[SDF]

I remember when I was 13 I would always think that I never wanted to grow up because that would change who I was and what I liked. (Specifically LEGO's, anime, and video games) Well it is years later I don't watch much anime anymore (I still netflix random anime movies I've never seen/heard of for fun) I don't have the time or money for video games (my brother has two new gen systems, I am still in wonderment -[wait, wonderment is a word? it isn't correcting the spelling >_> ] of graphics from games like FFX and Xenosaga, and thats about the extent of what I play) And, all my LEGO's have been boxed up for years. So I guess in that respect I've failed that part of my child self. But now I'm motivated and work hard to follow my dreams of doing something more, the kinds of things I've always wanted to do. Get a good higher education, traveling the world and helping people, ect. So I think I've stayed true to the spirit of who I was when I was young. I don't know how much that has to do with maturity, growing up, and conforming to society, but I don't really care about that in the end.

[Yoritomo Himeko]

My family likes to say that we practice "reverse snobbery" which I think is a sort of nonconformity. For an example, we think you're cool if you found that shirt at Salvation Army for 99 cents, but if we see someone who is a walking advertisement for overpriced brand-name clothing we think, "What a sucker. He/she fell for slick marketing and materialism."

Well, to tell you the truth, all they are paying for is the name. And how many people really care if you wear some expensive brand?

And it is cool if you found a really nice shirt at the Salvation Army for $.99. Not only did you find a great bargain, kept perfectly good clothing out of landfills, but you're also helping a good organization. :smallbiggrin:

[Don Julio Anejo]

I don't see a problem wearing a $0.99 shirt IF IT LOOKS NICE. Unfortunately, most cheap stuff doesn't look nice.

On topic: funny, when I was a kid everyone said I was too grown up. Now everyone says I should stop goofing off and act grown up.

@OP: if your employer is forcing you to be a sales engineer but you really hate it, why not pressure him into making you a testing engineer again? I don't mean forcing him, I just mean convincing you'd be a lot better at it than sales, you like it more and would be happier working there, etc, etc.

My personal point of view is that if you don't like something about your life, then go out and change it. Complaining isn't going to help, the only thing it might do is give you depression from learned helplessness and cost you thousands of dollars of cognitive therapy.

[Raider]

HANNAH MONTANNA! HIIISSSSSSS

I wish your eyes to explode and leave craters of painful blisters in your sockets..........but hey who wants to grow up though I support it, but then again I'm not an adult yet so don't need to worry about what is thought of it

[KoDT69]

As far as me complaining? It's not really so much that I was forced into a job I didn't really want, it's that they want me to exude a superiority complex over those of lesser wages. That's not right. And the pay is OK but totally replaceable. Only issue with that is my area is kinda dead for electronics/technology and I really didn't want to move very far if at all. I have been actively looking for the record. I'm not the type to sit back and complain not doing anything to fix it.

@ Salvation Army clothes - Right on! Why let it go to waste in a landfill when it's still good? Sure you got 1972 mint green suits that never sold, but you can find nice stuff there sometimes, especially ones in nicer parts of town :smallsmile: I'm no fool. I don't pay for a label.

All in all, I'm still a happy person though. I have my family, food to eat, and a playground full of somewhat like-minded people to discuss things. It really doesn't matter what other people think, but they can sure suck up your free time telling you anyway :smalleek:

@ Jokerz - If you enjoy writing, no matter what medium, do it. Anybody who would dissuade you from that is very unenlightened.

[SurlySeraph]

Yep. Conformity is not my favourite thing. I deliberately don't conform to annoy conformists :smallamused:

Mind you, I'm the opposite of the growing up thing; I grew up too quickly. Now I laugh at the less mature of the human race and can poke fun at immaturity, laugh at adult humour in kids' shows and still be respected as an adult by the grown-up community, all while being less than twenty years old!

How interesting. I deliberately conform to annoy nonconformists. Because I am surrounded by them. Have you ever heard someone say that they have no personality, or that they just like to go along with what everyone else is doing, or that they don't consider themselves independent thinkers or free-spirited, or that they hate being allowed to choose? No, you have not. Because everyone tries to be nonconformist these days. It's us conformists that are the real nonconformists. :smallamused:

[Em Blackleaf]

Yeah, I keep seeing "nonconformists" conforming with the other "nonconformists." :smalltongue:

OK this will be a very long post, so I'll go ahead and apologize in advance. The first question I want to pose to the Playground... Does your employer expect you to be something you're not? My employer hired me as a testing Engineer and I somehow ended up getting pushed into front-end customer support engineering and invariably labeled as a "Sales Engineer" :smallfurious: WTF! So now they are expecting me to act like them, alter my work schedule to be like them, and stop associating with the other test techs and production people. They say I should be "above that"... What? I should claim some form of superiority over them because you slapped me into a cubicle beside the salespeople??? Funk dat. I've told them straight up to upper management that I refuse to act that way and I'll laugh all the way home if they want to fire me for it.
That sucks! I hope your boss stops being a jerk. But remember, breathing is pretty mainstream... I mean, if you want to be a true nonconformist... :smalltongue:

Spongebob - Adult humor hidden in a kids show. Always good for a laugh.
My dad, my mom, my brothers, and I still watch Spongebob. It's a very good show. Spongebob is adorable. ^_^ I also refuse to grow up. :smallbiggrin:
I have to disagree with you on Hannah Montana, The Naked Brothers Band, and every other show you posted. But it is cute how you watch TV with your daughter. My friends tell about how annoying it is to watch Barney with their younger siblings. I'd be like "Totally yeah! Let's watch BARNEY!"
But I'm a little crazy... and I don't have any younger siblings...

@ Salvation Army clothes - Right on! Why let it go to waste in a landfill when it's still good? Sure you got 1972 mint green suits that never sold, but you can find nice stuff there sometimes, especially ones in nicer parts of town I'm no fool. I don't pay for a label.
I got two pretty nice formal dresses for nine dollars altogether at the salvation army store. It's a good place.

[wxdruid]

Join the military, then you don't have to worry about what you wear to work, everybody has to conform to the rules on that. I choose where I refuse to grow up and that's in my hobbies and freetime stuff.

[skywalker]

How interesting. I deliberately conform to annoy nonconformists. Because I am surrounded by them. Have you ever heard someone say that they have no personality, or that they just like to go along with what everyone else is doing, or that they don't consider themselves independent thinkers or free-spirited, or that they hate being allowed to choose? No, you have not. Because everyone tries to be nonconformist these days. It's us conformists that are the real nonconformists. :smallamused:I concur whole-heartedly. When you don't do things because it might be conforming, you're just as bad off as the conformists.
I also do this too :smallbiggrin:

[Don Julio Anejo]

I got things like Nautica and Tommy Hilfiger jeans for $20 and clubby polo shirts at RW&Co. for $15. You just have to go to a store and buy stuff that's on sale (hello Thanksgiving btw :amused:) instead of going to the most expensive display there. And it looks three-four times nicer than pretty much anything you can find at Goodwill/Salvation Army/etc.

Back on topic:

I know I'm special and the world revolves around me anyway. So why not do some things the "average Joe conformist" is doing, especially if I don't really care anyway about how/what I do so we have something in common? I find it weird to define someone based on how they dress or what music they listen to. For example I like hard rock (e.g. Rammstein, Lordi, etc) but I don't like the subculture or the style of dress. So what, I'm not a real fan now because I don't like wearing black, chains, leather and I have shortish surfery hair? Some would disagree but I'm still a metal fan. On the other hand, I like surfery and clubby clothing. But I hate water and I don't surf. So frickin' what? I like it and that's the only thing that really matters. And if it's not fashionable at the moment, there's several other clothing styles I also like.

[Blayze]

This thread reminds me of myself in a way. I've often said that the act of "maturing" and everything relating to it is nothing more than bowing to the wills and opinions of other people. The opinions of other people mean nothing to me, but what's important is to make people *think* that they are.

When other people look at me, they see what I want them to see. They see me and think "He's goofy, but harmless." That's their first mistake. Whenever people stop taking me seriously, they start to slip up. They don't lower their voices as much if they're whispering when I'm the only other person around. They don't think I can be dangerous.

People at work have tried many times to change me to fit their views of society. They've tried to get me to wear more expensive clothes (I work in a depot. Only managers wear shirts and ties), but I shop at Primark for my stuff. Functional, clean, cost-efficient and practical. £3 for a pair of slobbin' trousers is a fair price for me.

They've tried to get me to go out on the town with them, despite the fact that I don't drink. They call it "coming out of my shell", but it's nothing more than "changing him to fit our opinions of who he should be". I won't do it. But in order to keep those whining cretins off my back, it's important to make the fools *think* they're succeeding. It's essential to make them *think* they're changing me.

For now, I smile and nod. For now, I bide my time and work towards my own goals. Some day, my chance will come (It'd be nice to win the Lottery and be financially secure enough to tell them what I *really* think of every last one of them). And when it does, they will know that they never managed to change me.

[Jibar]

I know I can't really say that I refuse to grow up while I'm still 17, but it has reached the stage where the only show I regularly watch on TV is Kim Possible.
And that is because Kim Possible is awesome.

[Player_Zero]

I spent today playing and watching Yugioh... I'm 18 so it's more eccentric than creepy for the moment, but I never plan to change. :smalltongue:

[CrazedGoblin]

You can never get too old for Spongebob. Seriously, it is a timeless show I expect to be replayed years from now, and you now what, I'll still find it hilarious.

have to agree with you there.:smallbiggrin: