Re provincial upbringing: yeah. I nearly caused a serious family crapstorm by yelling at someone older than me for using the n word; it was averted by getting shunned for a few weeks and then the whole mess was never spoken of again.

Any more, I feel like an alien around here; and I'm not even the target of the worst of the vitriol.

..and honestly that ties right into what bugs me about the inessential weirdness thing. Building coalitions requires understanding, yes - but why's it all gotta be one-sided? Why do the "weird" have to accommodate the tastes and preferences of everyone else, every time?

Edit: That's a rhetorical question; I know very well why. I'm just tired and stroppy about it. >.