Girl Gets The Geek, Installment One:But Why I Was A Cheerleader

BE Aggressive! B-E aggressive! B-E-AGG-Rrrrr-ESSIVE, aggressive! B-E aggressive!

*Clap* *Clap* *Clap*


~ Every cheerleader, everywhere.



Back in the day, I was a cheerleader. I'd always wanted to be a cheerleader, but it wasn't society's grasp on me; it was about wanting to be magical. To smile and yell and jump and dance and cheer people on is basically my raison d'etre. Plus, the costume aspect. Dude. Dressing up like a cheerleader is pretty much as close as you can get to dressing up like a superhero, in mainstream society.

But I know how cheerleaders are perceived, and for good reason. Lots of cheerleaders are nasty people. But my ultimate cheerleading superhero, Mary, was my true cheerleading inspiration. First of all, she was one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen in real life, to this day.

But she did not care about that, and showed us why. She was about other things. She volunteered to coach a bunch of junior high cheerleaders, potentially one of the most obnoxious groups ever, point for point, and did it in a manner that I believe would make a Marine Sergeant proud. There was no crying in cheerleading, and she trained us to be the best we could be. It was all very athletic and serious. I accept the reasons that cheerleading is not technically a sport, but take great exception to those who view it as a joke. It is one of the most athletic activities ever.

What made Mary truly awesome, besides all of the above, is one day that has stood out to me, even in my crazy-ridiculous memory. She called a Very Serious Meeting, and brought up something that, God bless my friends in junior high, I honestly had no idea was even an issue.

Mary went on to say that she'd heard cheerleaders were sitting together at lunch. And that some people thought they were getting clique-y, and thinking they were better than everyone else, because they were cheerleaders.

Maybe they (I say they not we because I think I sat with them once at lunch; I loved my friends and missed them that day), Mary continued, just got along because they shared cheerleading in common, in which case she didn't want to jump the gun and judge them, but really, it was important to remember why we were all cheerleaders. Mary reminded us that we were a Christian school, and that meant we were supposed to behave like Jesus. Never excluding anyone, and definitely never thinking we're better. And if any of us did think that way, she should just leave the squad now, because Mary believed that we were all better than that stereotype. This was a brand-new squad, and she'd be ashamed to know she'd created a monster.

AWESOME.


Javier just showed me the movie, "Final Fantasy: Advent Children." In case I haven't made it abundantly clear, Javier makes me a cooler person. If you think I'm cool, it's thanks to him, chances are. And I'm totally cool with that. He is awesome. And you know how I've referred to The Pick System. Well, he uses his picks to show me awesome things. Movies and shows about people coming together to accomplish a greater purpose, and on a good day, heal the world!

In case you're wondering where I am going with all of this, well, this blog is a shoutout and thank you to Mary, one of my most beloved people of all time, but it is also a precursor to future blogs about my recognized pathology (but it's okay) in my love for villains, an apology for not having done a "Heroes" slam book this week (I wanted to give the characters the do-over they are looking for), and why geeks are the best people in the world, and how women could find all their relationship answers by just getting over her drama and going for a geek.

Obvi.

But just to tie it all back together, why would we ever choose to sit at just one lunch table, if all it was based on was a similar costume? Are we really so simple as to care more about that than the person underneath?

Mary told us that cheerleading was just like any other passion. Coming together to do something awesome and beautiful and fun. I feel like sometimes we so associate those feelings with guilt and shame -- why and how did/does that happen? More on this in my upcoming blog about Michael Baiden's awesome site, iseecolor.com.

For now, I am curious. What table did you sit at in high school? What table do you sit at now, as far as these things go? How much does that table mean to you, and why?

Wouldn't it be more awesome if we could all rally together and sing? It would explain a lot about the popularity of/manic obsession with "Grease" movies and "High School Musical," if we could blame it all on our subconsciouses? I just think we'd all be a lot better off if we helped, not hurt, our "collective unconscious," as Javier talks about, which he told me just now is Carl Jung. Funny, 'cause "Final Fantasy" inspired approximately 27 blog ideas, one of which is about how Freud is the true stranglehold over our society, as a whole.

I know.

Also, did you hate cheerleaders? It's okay. This movie sealed for me what I've known all along, what Mary was talking about -- sit at every lunch table. Never presume to know what "better" is. Do your best, try to represent for good, and never, ever, wear a uniform that you do not choose and respect.





Harris dates a girl named Judith. Just saying.









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