Men That Don't Fit In (1911)

47 pointsposted 11 hours ago
by oidar
(poetryfoundation.org)

21 Comments

akkartik

7 hours ago

Show me a successful "steady, quiet, plodding" person from the outside, and I'll show you someone who "doesn't know how to rest" and continually makes "fresh mistakes" on the inside.

a34729t

4 hours ago

Meh most people accomplish nothing. The trick is to be satisfied with whatever one's circunstances.

dosisking

4 hours ago

I've always said that having a goal is the first step towards failure.

rozumem

an hour ago

Made me chuckle. I say have winnable goals

smuffinator

3 hours ago

"I found that if you have a goal, that you might not reach it. But if you don't have one, then you are never disappointed. And I gotta tell ya it feels phenomenal"

dingaling911

8 hours ago

This is me. Has anyone broken this curse before it's too late?

throwatdem12311

7 hours ago

Start a meetup for one of your own passions. Then you’re not the one that has to fit in.

My passion is retro shmup, beat’em up, and run n’ gun games — basically designed either directly for the arcade or with that style in mind for modern games. I live in a small city but I noticed a steady stream of these kinds of games coming into the hock shop where I scooped them up for my collection. Figured there must be at least a few people that like these kinds of games if they are circulating locally.

Started a meetup with barely any solo marketing in local Facebook groups. I rented a small space, and lo and behold a handful of people showed up. We had some snacks and played some games. Made a couple new friends.

Tangentially related: things like this is why Sony discontinuing physical games is a horrible move and a massive blow to gaming culture. Never would’ve had this idea if I never was able to pick up a used copy of Battle Garegga at my local hock shop.

dingaling911

5 hours ago

For me specifically this hurts:

If they just went straight they might go far; They are strong and brave and true; But they're always tired of the things that are, And they want the strange and new. They say: "Could I find my proper groove, What a deep mark I would make!" So they chop and change, and each fresh move Is only a fresh mistake.

marssaxman

7 hours ago

Is it really a curse? This poem takes as axiomatic the ideas that life is a race, that winning matters, that winning involves a specific destination, and that this destination is more or less the same for everyone: but none of those premises strike me as being particularly defensible. What we are seeing in this poem is not the rambling man as he experiences his own life, but as he is seen through the eyes of a person with a very different value system.

dingaling911

5 hours ago

This is the part that's a curse. And yes it's a curse because you never build anything because you don't know what that even feels like.

If they just went straight they might go far; They are strong and brave and true; But they're always tired of the things that are, And they want the strange and new. They say: "Could I find my proper groove, What a deep mark I would make!" So they chop and change, and each fresh move Is only a fresh mistake.

snayan

2 hours ago

Yeah, this poem deeply resonated with me.

In my case it turned out that all my discontent and not fitting in was a blessing rather than a curse. Kept me untethered so when I finally hit my breaking point I could look inside until I found peace.

Took almost 40 years to reach my breaking point, but I've pretty much done a factory reset on my internal OS in the past year and a bit, been wonderful.

busymom0

8 hours ago

Me too. In my mid 30s and afraid it's too late.

steve_adams_86

7 hours ago

I felt like that at your age. Now 40 and realizing my energy was wasted worrying when there's so much more potential left. I believe I'd feel similar at 50. There's a lot of living left to do.

dingaling911

5 hours ago

Maybe we should exchange emails and hold each other accountable

CrimsonCape

5 hours ago

I'd be curious to know the average salary in 1911 versus cost to purchase a house in 1911. If you can plod along for 15 years and buy a house with cash (i don't think credit/mortgages existed in 1911?). Makes plodding seems like the right choice.

afry1

4 hours ago

What a bunch of crap.

If you spend your life running to and fro and never commit to anything in the end, then arguably you've frittered your life away.

But maybe, just maybe, what you've really been doing this whole time is building up a wealth of diverse experiences, which in turn give you a broad understanding of the world and the ability to bring a unique and wonderful perspective to life. One that is completely your own, and special and important and infinitely valuable precisely because of the long period of exploration that you committed your early life to.

I recommend this book endlessly. Anybody who reads this stupid poem and gets a sinking feeling in their chest should pick up a copy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range:_Why_Generalists_Triumph...

bluefirebrand

8 hours ago

Woof

This cuts me to the bone

Was this really written in 1911?

I guess things never really change, humans are still humans