Weird people: the people who create those awkward silences, who disrupt my train of thought with that odd comment, who make me raise my eyebrows and look around at others in a mutual confusion, they deserve respect. Why? They are the ones who care least about what others think. Of course I too believe in not caring what others think, especially if it means not expressing my true self, but then again so does everybody, and everybody still cares at least a little, so that does no good. It ends up being those “weird” people who really live up to the idea. Weird people are just a little less hypocritical than the rest. That is one reason for respect.

There is a thing my dad said that has always stuck with me. “The more you know, the less people understand you.” This was true for Galileo, whose theory that the earth was not the center of the universe was so absurd to everyone that he was thrown in jail for it. He sounded like a crazy man, but he had an insight that nobody bothered to understand. I'm not trying to say that every weird person is a genius in disguise. The idea is that by trying to understand the weird people in my life and the odd things they say or wear or do, I can grab a piece of their insight and have it for myself.

Weird people can bring out others' true desires. For example, I met a homeschooled girl at a camp that I went to this summer. She was tall and quiet, but after I talked with her for a while, she unabashedly confessed her love for snakes and reptiles. “Hah, that's kind of weird.” I said, jokingly but kind of meaning it. Then I caught myself. I liked snakes and reptiles too…it just wasn't a thing I told people off the bat because I didn't want to seem strange or put them off. The fact that this girl that I had only known for a short while was telling me exactly what she liked made me feel good about saying “Hey, I like that stuff too!”

I believe that the weird people are the ones that make life more interesting. They have a bravery and passion that many others lack. They make things uncomfortable, and I squirm in those odd feelings, but I know that by trying to recognize the true meaning, I, too, can learn to care less about what other people think. I can then live my life on my terms.