It's getting a bit late, but I have a little story to tell. In the beginning of high school, I started out as a bit of a jock who really loved nerd-life. I wrestled and played baseball and basketball. I quit sporting to pursue women, music, and video games, while reading comic books on the side. I remember the old jock/nerd rivalry really well, and I got into quite a few scuffles because of it. 11 years later, I teach college freshmen English, and I write about comics for a living. I couldn't be more proud. However, my nonsensical hatred for jock-kind was refueled tonight. 
 
My girlfriend and I spent the day house hunting and whatnot, and during the evening, we decided to go out to eat. Halfway to the restaurant, she called me and told me her father, their exchange student, and a couple of his friends were going to be there. No big deal. I enjoy hanging out with the future father-in-law, and I don't mind a couple of the teenagers coming in. We sit down at our table at the restaurant, and one of the exchange student's friends I have never met before. He was, for all intensive purposes, a jock. It really didn't matter to me, since I truly think getting involved in school activities is a good thing. We all chatted and I noticed this kid complained about everything. "These wings suck" was the first thing that popped out of his mouth. "Then why are you eating them?" I thought to myself. He was loud and a bit cruel to our exchange student. I thought nothing of it. My girlfriend and I began talking about taking our niece and nephew to see the new Justin Bieber movie, since they love his music. I have no problem with it. I'm not a fan, but whatever makes my niece and nephew happy makes me happy. This jock kid starts spouting off some pretty homophobic slang, even though I'm pretty sure Bieber isn't gay. I chime in and say, "I may not like his music, but you know what? At the end of the day his decisions and actions have no effect on my or anyone's life, so who cares?" He stops talking... Then comes what almost drove me to get into it with him. I jokingly said I wanted to quit working at the comic book store, which I work at one day a week. As soon as the words "comic book store" came out of my mouth, this kid started chuckling in this "I'm better than you tone." In my mind I thought, "really dude? now that you know I like comics, you want to have a bit of a giggle about it?" I flashed back to every single time someone who thought they were better than me in high school picked on me for my interests. Whether it was comic books, my blue mohawk, my love for Star Wars, or even the music I listened to. It almost always ended up in a fight, and overall, it was never worth it. Here's why...
 
I went to my 10 year high school reunion this past summer. I was excited to what everyone was up to. I don't really hold grudges, and I truly was excited to see people I just didn't get along with, since we've all matured and become filled with more wisdom. I started noticing a trend. Those people that walked all over everyone in high school and bullied people drew the short end of the stick because they continued treating people like garbage after high school. And in the real world, if you treat people like garbage, life treats you like garbage. And I felt bad for those people. I truly did because they never really learned acceptable social skills. But there's that old saying "what goes around, comes around."
 
I know there's a lot of high school students on this site who dealt with the same bologna that I, or anyone older, dealt with in high school. The best thing to do is ignore it. High school is honestly the worst four years you'll have to endure, and although life becomes infinitely more complicated after high school, it's so much more fulfilling, exciting, and pleasurable.  I'll take struggling over bills and arguments with my girlfriend over a prep rally any day. Just be yourself, hang out with your friends, ignore the jerks the best you can, and get through high school. 
 
Ok, it's 2:30AM... I have to work at the comic book store tomorrow... Hope you guys enjoyed this. Goodnight friends!