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Be Different. Be Amish.

It occurred to me recently that being "punk" is now "cool". It didn't used to be that way. My husband was punk back when his parents basically shunned him from family life for having a mohawk, and stores like Hot Topic didn't exist. He had to scrounge the thrift stores and K-mart to find clothes that expressed his inner angst. Punk bands didn't sport major labels and had to travel in broken down vans and were lucky to get 200 a gig. Mostly they played for the love of it. Bands like Green Day and Good Charlotte would have been a joke to a real punk.

Back in the 80's, when one saw purple hair, tattoos, and ripped clothes, one crossed the street in fear and disgust. Now, we don't even blink. I see kids flying their freak flags and I think, "oh yeah, another one. Big deal."

Back then young women didn't have 12 piercings and 9 tattoos unless they were what most considered "odd." Having your ears double pierced was considered "cutting edge." Now it's nothing. I have perfectly normal friends with studs in their noses and tattoos from head to toe. No one thinks twice about it.

Back then you couldn't have gotten a job interview, let alone a job; now, the mall is filled with metal and ink covered employees and it's actually considered a plus to have a few more holes in your head at some stores.

I was never punk. I was never "anything", really. I was just me. I wore jeans and t-shirts and did what I wanted. Occasionally, I wore a dress and went to church when my friends were getting high under the railroad trestle. I was a "true rebel." I didn't go out of my way to stand out, but I didn't care what other people thought of me, either. I listened to the music I liked, read the books I enjoyed, kept the friends I wanted, all without regard to making statements or what was popular. I didn't have anything to prove to anyone. My rebellion was firmly fixed in my steadfast belief that you could kiss my a$$ if you didn't like me. I wasn't even mad about it.

I didn't need to look or act like any group to prove my point. I liked Black Sabbath and Mozart. I read Stephen King and Jeffery Archer. I loved Jesus and smoked pot. I was every bit as comfortable in a museum as I was a club or the mall, and I knew stuff about art. I thought Grace Kelly was beautiful and Adam Ant was sexy.

I was a daydreamer who imagined a glamorous life of travel and intrigue, but I NEVER followed fashion or fad. I thought Madonna was a giant whore back in 1985 and Michael Jackson creeped

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