Throughout my life, even as a child, I would say “I want to be the weirdest person in the room, so others can feel free to be their weirdest self." I guess what I mean when I say "weird" is authentic regardless of consequences, or unabashedly yourself. There have been many times in my life where I felt I had to tone myself down, or not talk about certain interests because they were "boring" or "weird" to those around me. Looking back, these people didn’t really understand me. Mainstream culture, a huge force in our lives, encourages the status quo, and permeates our brain and soul, leading us to a path we didn’t really consciously choose. Certain interests or activities are shoved to the outskirts of our consciousness, because they aren’t "cool" or profitable. Weirdness is something for people who live on the fringes of society, and certainly people who want to be loved and adored by the mainstream machine don’t want any part in that.
It has become very difficult to think about what we want to do with ourselves if we had nobody to impress, no "status" to achieve, no bills to pay. The rat race of both money and popularity has taken a stronghold on our spirits. It forges out a predetermined path that is an insult to our humanity and creativity. The Pink Flamingo, for me, is a protest to this system of being and thought. The Pink Flamingo takes so much joy in being irreverent and weird, and wants the public to look at them with utter confusion and delight. Athens has a wonderful underground vibe in many places, but let’s face it: it’s not as weird as it could be. I blame the university and their large business school. I feel a sense of urgency and responsibility to help shift Athens more into a place of weirdness and wonderment, where random characters drive up to Hendershot’s in 100 year old cars on Tuesday afternoons. In my minds eye, I imagine the Pink Flamingo reaching out to unsuspecting civilians saying, "yes, be weird with me!" and driving off with new recruits for a strange civilization.