To errrr is human

I’m taking an excruciatingly remedial ‘intro to Canadian Democracy’ course, in which the T.A. is trying to impress all the girls with his *expertise*. He gave a half-lecture last week, and this week, I overheard him chatting up one of the girls. He spent most of the time talking about the “rush of public speaking’ while she nodded and smiled, and occasionally threw in a “no, you were really great, honestly…”

And then he said: “it’s a hard balance to strike, because if you humanize yourself too much, then you lose the respect of your audience.”

This phrase bears repeating, because it is such a poignant statement about our society. It’s so sad that showing your humanity puts you at risk of being belittled by other human beings. I tend to have the opposite reaction. I don’t ever trust people who are too smooth, who carry on as if they’ve got it all figured out, and especially not those whose hair is never out of place. I never trust these people because I suspect that they are human impersonators – silicone robots, gathering information about human frailty for mischievous ends. I’d much rather surround myself with the sort of people who make it a daily goal to rock out with their frock out. I’m convinced that I feel this way not only because I, myself, am human; but because I like it that way.