[2022-10-30] Live and let live
The Egg Farmers of Ontario have a charming ad campaign that attempts to dispel the myth that eggs are just for breakfast. While I had seen many of the commercials, I came across a new variation today. In the video, a brother tells his sister that having eggs for lunch is weird. She insists that it isn't, noting that eggs are quick and can be eaten at any time. The brother presses his point until the sister retorts, "You're weird. Your girlfriend looks like Mom." The camera cuts to a shot of the mom and the girlfriend cooking and laughing together, sounding very much alike, then back to the brother, who gulps.
That led me to an equally funny ad from the Egg Farmers of Newfoundland and Labrador. In the video, a grandmother presents an egg casserole to her grandson, who says, "Eggs? For supper? That's weird, Nan." She replies, "G’way witcha. That's not weird. That's delicious." He persists. Finally, the grandmother replies, "All you youngsters wearing the same boots: now that's weird."
What these ads tap into is the notion that weird and ordinary are in the eyes of the beholder. What is normal to us may be abnormal to someone else, and vice versa. If we typically wake up early, we may struggle to understand the partner who likes to sleep in late. If we think Sundays are for lounging, we may shake our head at the neighbour who spends the day cleaning his garage. If we were taught not to talk to strangers, we may wonder about the friend who strikes up conversations with anyone and everyone.
What the egg commercials reflect is our tendency to judge others who behave in ways that are contrary to the way we behave. Often, we judge them silently. Other times, we comment to a third party. And sometimes, we tell the person what we think, perhaps in a veiled attempt to get them to be more like us. We might say, "That's weird" or "That's not normal" or "You sure do that a lot."
If we're the one labeled atypical, we might protest, point out to our accuser ways in which they're weird, or simply say—as one person suggested on a Reddit thread—"Okay" and move on. Admittedly, that final option wouldn't make for a very funny egg commercial.
But when our differences hurt no one, it's best to live and let live. To accept the beautiful diversity of humanity. To remember that other people have different priorities, preferences and proclivities. And to respect all the ways that people differ—because weird and ordinary, atypical and typical, and abnormal and normal depend on how we look at it.
