I was quiet and generally well-behaved, always the outsider looking in, awkward around everyone, practically silent around girls (and thinking, wrongly, that I was invisible because of it; something I liked and loathed pretty equally - guess it was a safety/security thing on one side and a desire thing on the other). Even then, if a girl showed any interest and I picked up on it (which wasn't very likely), I assumed she was only having a laugh and/or would run back to her mates, laughing like a maniac. That feeling carried on even beyond the point where 99% of the girls had become too mature for that kind of cheap giggle. But then, I was too shy and nervous to ask anyone out anyway.
I remember only getting into semi-serious trouble once, when a couple of mates and I volunteered to help a teacher prepare a display during a wet break rather than go to the hall (boring!) and ended up playing American football with a rolled up schoolbook (bound by an elastic band) in the classroom instead. I think I was let off serious punishment only because the deputy head (vice principal) was so surprised to see me standing outside his office.
I was OK academically but could have done better. Like a lot of smart people (statement of fact, not a boast), though, I had - and have - a tendency to coast. Despite being smarter than the average hairless ape, let alone bear, I didn't excel in terms of grades. I used to worry about that, but then I read that Einstein didn't do well in school and thought 'fudge' it, he didn't do too badly for himself in the end so getting Cs instead of As isn't the end of the world.
I got bullied a little, but eventually became such a grey man that I was forgotten about. I'd also shown a willingness to fight back once I'd had enough, so that probably helped.
I was a very good goalkeeper, potentially good enough to have made a professional career of it, a good striker, and was above average-to-good in a lot of other things - tennis, cricket, track (esp. the 400 and 800m as well as cross-country), basketball and rugby - without ever really getting close to excelling. I'd also run or cycle everywhere rather than walk, unless I was in company, because walking alone was dull and running was quicker (and therefore marginally less dull - then as now, I can't stand being bored, especially at - or worse, by - work...though since I work for myself and do something I 'love' these days, that no longer occurs).
What else? I was always a reader and storyteller. I use storyteller instead of writer because, before I learnt to write, I'd stand in front of family or friends and rattle away, making it up as I went along. I'd do maths puzzles for fun but wouldn't have called myself a geek; I was too active and sporty for that. I was interested in almost everything, provided it interested me. History, archaeology, geography, science (chemistry and physics, some parts of biology) were of particular interest, and still are. Engineering, metalwork, woodwork/carpentry...not so much. In fact, not at all. I
can knock together a box or table and repair a lot of other things if I can be bothered to put my mind to it, but generally...nah. I was never fussed about cars and engines, either. Turn key, engine goes brum, job's a good 'un as far as I'm concerned. I toyed with the idea of training to be an architect for a while, but it went no further than a passing 'I wonder if...'.
All in all I was, and am, probably the kind of person who would find forensic accounting fun.
(Relative lack of human contact? Check. Immersion in numbers/data instead? Check.)
Yes, please make sure I'm drunk before I get stoned!
