Ask Your Question today
So this poll is basically the title. Do you want to be normal or not?
When you submit a IIN, do you want it to be like 10% normal or are you looking for validation that you are normal?
| I want to be normal | 14 | |
| I don't want to be normal | 26 | |
| I'm a tiger | 13 | |
| I want to answer something else (comment) | 5 |
When I post a story, I want people to comment. I don't care if what I write about is normal or not, I just want to see reactions. Preferably something coherent but that may be asking for too much.
That really depends on the story.
If I were to post a story about a personal experience of mine... oh say, my administrator laughing at me and telling me something to the effect of "get over it" when I reported to him that I was being sexually harassed by a group of boys that I didn't know my senior year and I was asking if it was normal for a school administrator to react like that and it was voted overwhelmingly as normal, I would most likely find that to be a little concerning and very disheartening.
I would rather hear that it isn't normal for an administrator to react that way to a report of sexual harassment. However, if I post something like... is it normal for me to cringe when I see very heavy people wearing obscenely tight clothes and it was voted as NOT normal, I would feel like kind of an ass.
I want to be reassured that my opinion of whether or not something should be normal is valid. Even if I have no idea whether or not other people would find it normal, if I post something thinking that it will be voted one way and it is voted another, it doesn't make me too happy. I also like seeing the opinions in the comments. I am not saying that I can't handle not being agreed with because ultimately, I want to know what others think (hence, why I post in the first place), but it's nice to be validated.
I would rather be normal than abnormal. I would rather be extraordinary than ordinary.
There's no such thing as normal. But when I'm posting an IIN question I rarely even check the percentage, I'm mostly just looking for advice or wanting different opinions.
There was no way in a million years I was going to stay away from the "I'm a tiger" option. Ggrrgrgrraaawwwrrrr!
But in all seriousness, I do get quite low rated stories (especially if I'm trying to be funny and people take me seriously. For instance:
(28% normal) http://isitnormal.com/story/is-it-normal-i-cant-let-people-in-my-house-127983/
(17% normal) http://isitnormal.com/story/iin-i-can-only-watch-a-filmshow-if-it-rhymes-with-a-body-part-132884/
(25% normal) http://isitnormal.com/story/is-it-normal-i-need-help-with-a-sexual-problem-136466/
I thought the joke was really obvious in each, but three quarters of people either didn't get it, took it seriously, were offended by it, or thought it was pointless. It doesn't bother me at all but it does make me wonder about myself and about whether I really don't fit in because I don't see things the same way most people do.
When I ask a real question, they're usually rated quite highly. It's just a sense of humour that doesn't travel.
In all fairness, a raincloud over one's penis is most abnormal, weather for comic effect or otherwise. Just because it's rated as not normal doesn't necessarily mean it was met by a stormy reception :P
Nothing is worse than Americans not understanding the obvious jokey nature of things. I had 2 American flatmates for a while, both of whom I would frequently compliment on their choice of shorts and cap that day. They never understood the sarcasm.
Also on this site, there was a story about "why can't men be upset as girls looking at their crotch", to which I replied that I like to show a bit of "shaft" at all times to show the ladies what they're up against. 2 serious replies. I was not best pleased.
I honestly think Americans laugh at 90% of the things we do. There're just some things that never, ever appear in their sit-coms and aren't part of their tradition.
I often deliberately don't use certain forms of humour here (there were so few Brits when I started) although I might start doing. Oddly, the people who liked "penis cloud" were from all over the place (including America) and the one person who moaned a bit was English.
Having said that, I have had so many strange responses to sarcasm here that I don't think many cultures really understand. I see lots of people call themselves sarcastic when really they just mean caustic. Like, saying, "Haha! You bitch!" doesn't really qualify as sarcasm to me. Yet when I posted to someone's ridiculous statement by agreeing and then saying I was just off to shoot some puppies in the face at point-blank range, someone hated me for about nine months because they later told me they thought I'd really shot some puppies.
It can be very frustrating. And don't even get me started on the double-talk we Brits do!
Heh, oh I love my parents. Sarcasm just flies right over their head. It's kinda fun to mess with them. ;P
I think the reason we laugh at 90% of what you guys do is simply because most of our humor is old and stale at this point. Anything new is a relief.
For the reason we don't get some of the other forms of humor, I think it's due to the same reason. It's not a recognized form of humor here, and as such, we're not really sure if it really is comedy or something cultural that someone might take offense to if we laughed at.
Hmmm I got the joke in the first two it was the third simply ridiculous or am I missing something?