George Carlin’s Rant Is More Relevant Than Ever — “It’s A Big Club, And You Ain’t In It.”
If you feel like an outsider, you’re not alone.
I slid my lunch tray along the chrome rails, grabbing a mini pizza instead of the mystery meat in brown sauce, and added a carton of chocolate milk and an ice cream sandwich. Now I had to find a place to sit. As I neared the end of the cafeteria line, anxiety turned to panic.
My eyes scanned the dining room — dozens of long tables with six chairs on each side, filled with kids, none of whom I knew. I put on my best I-know-what-I’m-doing look — pretending to find the friends I didn’t have while I searched for an empty table in the room. There weren’t any. After a few minutes of wandering around, utterly lost, I saw a spot and sat down.
I ate my food in silence — miserable, uncomfortable, and feeling like the outsider I was.
That was me when I was fourteen. An outsider: someone not part of the group. Someone outside the circle, looking in. The new kid in a high school with a thousand other teenagers.
My life as an outsider continued into my twenties — I protested the Vietnam war, followed an Indian guru, started a natural foods business, began a lifelong meditation practice, and became a vegetarian. Later, I…
