Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Ignorance is often bliss. Ignorance of culture has kept me from trouble many times in my life. I guess this is an advantage of being a nerd.

I remember as a kid other kids walking up to me and, with their most earnest face, saying,

I dare ya’

They were really serious when they said this. They would look side to side to ensure no adults could hear them, purse their expression, and give me the “dare” statement. My reaction was always the same. I had no clue what they meant or why they were so serious. So, I ignored them.

Somewhere in my upbringing, my parents had neglected to teach me the importance of a dare. I was completely ignorant of it and I never got into trouble doing something wrong because of a dare.

That is the first example I can remember of being culturally ignorant. There were others that came to me while a child and there have been many others that hit me as a adult. People, like the “dare ya'” kid, would seem so earnest and tell me something that I just didn’t understand. Then they would pause and stare at me like I was supposed to do something earth shattering. Instead, I responded with a blank stare until the other person shook their head and walked away muttering something that I won’t repeat here.

There are great advantages to being culturally ignorant. In my life, being ignorant kept me from doing many stupid things. I avoided many problems because I simply didn’t understand what was bringing people to the point of a physical and emotional fit.

I guess this is an advantage of being a nerd or whatever term people use to describe us dolts these days.