The weird thing about weird.
Classical music was playing in the background. Lights dimmed. The guests at the tables were well dressed. At this Italian fine dining restaurant, Justin sat alone at a table for two. He had ordered himself some spaghetti bolognese. With his fork, he digs in. He starts slurping his noodles. As he slurps loudly, his glasses gets foggy and sauce spatters everywhere. The other guests turned around carrying a puzzled look.
"What's this weird guy doing," the guests and servers wondered.
In another space, another time. Justin is in a famous ramen noodle shop in Tokyo. To get a bowl of ramen here requires waiting in line for three hours. His Tonkotsu ramen, noodles in a pork bone broth, is finally here. With his chopsticks, he digs in. He starts slurping his noodles. As he slurps loudly, his glasses get foggy and the umami-filled soup splatters everywhere. The guest on his left was slurping too as if it was the most delicious thing on this planet. The guest on his right was too. In fact, everyone in the restaurant was slurping their noodles. In the midst of this orchestra of slurping sounds, the ramen chef is enjoying it. The guests were paying their respects by slurping.
Interesting. The act of slurping was the same. Yet, in the first situation the people in the fine dining restaurant thought of it as weird. In the second situation in the ramen shop, the people didn't.
Isn't that weird?
You'll most likely have an observation. That weird is relative. That weird is subject to the lens of culture. (In this case, Japanese culture.) But let's go deeper.
Googling the definition of culture reveals culture as:
the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.
Notice "the social group" in the definition, which suggests that we can look at culture not just as something across countries, but also culture at a micro- and nano-scale. We can consider the nano-culture of the people we identify ourselves with. In other words, we can look at it this way. What my friends and I consider weird might not be weird for you. And the vice versa holds true.
What is right is not always right
Imagine your friend standing in front and facing you. You raise your right hand. It is clear that your raised hand is on your right side. To your friend, however, it is clear to them that your raised hand is on their left.
The idea of weird is kind of like this. What we consider weird from our eyes may be completely normal from the other side.
When we encounter something we're inclined to label as weird. Let us pause. Let us consider. Let us circle around. Let us see it from different angles. Let us see it from the other side.
Perhaps it's not so weird after all.