Michael the punk

The word punk went through three phases.

The first term refers to a prison-sex slave. I have never had prison sex (or any sex) and I've never even been in prison. This was a rather rude term. Then there were a group of people who didn't dress like everyone else, who didn't talk like everyone else, who didn't think like everyone else. Society likes to ridicule the outcasts such as these, so they acquired the name "punks". Of course, since these people didn't really care that much what society said, they took the word "punk" and it eventually became a term of endearment among punks, but still an insult for people from the outside. However, once something gets a name, a marketing agency with a branch in New York and another branch in L.A. pick up on the name and start marketing it. They dictate what the name means. Now being a punk means going to a store in the mall and buying a $200 outfit ($30 metal wallet chains are absolutely mandatory) and then going out and buying a skateboard. The next step is to find a few rules that no one cares about (like "no yelling at passing cars"), then break the life out of those rules (but the rules can't be too major, because then the parents might stop giving their "punk" children their $300/week allowance, and the folks at the L.A. branch don't like the sound of that).

So, from my sarcasm, it's quite clear that I'm not excited about the latest meaning of the word punk and the first meaning of the word punk has less than nothing to do with me (math question, is the square root of negative one also less than nothing?). But the second meaning of "punk" I can agree with. While I sadly have not lived up to the "not-caring" standard 100%, it's a good goal to shoot for. The goal of the second generation punk is to do things because it makes sense, not because that's what society says is the way to go. This actually explains the original punk look. Society said "buy expensive clothing", but punks said "Salvation Army, baby! $10 for a whole outfit". The styles at the Salvation Army are the styles rejected by people and therefore dumped into a big bin outside a department store.

I think my "punkness" is the base of a lot of what I do: it's why I exercise and it's why I wear shorts. Wait! Exercise? Doesn't society tell us to be skinny and/or muscular (depending on age/gender)? Going with the crowd there, eh? Well, kinda, but kinda not. Society does push toward exercise from time to time, but for the wrong reasons. It tells us to exercise to be sexy, whereas I exercise for health (my stunning good looks are just a side-effect). So being a punk, in my mind, is considering why you are doing what you are doing. Are you doing it because someone told you it's the way it should be? Or because you determined for yourself that it's the way it should be?

The punk rant is actually a good opening for a lot of the rest of the site. I hope most of the other opinions expressed on this website come from my own careful consideration of the facts, and not because someone told me that's the way it should be.