Like My Lunchbox?

Last year, on November 20th, I celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary (as did my wife). I am not one of those guys that jokes about "the ole ball-and-chain", etc. I know how incredibly blessed I am to be married to the woman that I am incredibly blessed to be married to. ( That last sentence was on purpose. I'm that incredibly blessed.)

Anyway, my incredible blessing of a wife got me a great present last year for our anniversary. A lunchbox. But not just any lunchbox. No! It's a Captain America lunchbox! It's awesome.

Now to answer the obvious question. Do I carry it to work? You bet I do. Usually it contains some chips, a sandwich, maybe some yogurt. It can hold all kinds of great things. After all, it is a lunchbox.

Now here's the interesting thing. At least, interesting to me. In high school, even Jr. high, I would never, EVER, have been seen carrying a lunchbox like this. I was way too worried about being cool. Well...trying to be cool. I never actually managed it.

I was in the worst of situations. I was a smart, slightly (at the time) overweight kid that ended up excelling in band of all things. I collected comic books, read a lot, played D&D and Risk, and loved computers when computers weren't yet cool. (I am sure I would have been picked on more if I wasn't bigger than most of my teachers.)

Of course, NONE of this was mentioned at school. Most of my best friends were nerds, but, of course, being the lame, self-conscious, peer-aware person that I was, I tried not to associate too much with them at school. (one of the few things I truly regret from high school.) I was too busy trying to impress the "cool kids". I know it sounds like an After School special, but it's true. It wasn't the "cool kid's" fault. They didn't know that the very reason I often acted like a jerk and a dweeb was because I was trying hard not to act like a geek and a nerd.

Then I went to college. Something happened. Suddenly, I was immersed in a culture where the things that I did best (musically, scholastically) were highly esteemed. My peer group respected me.

Then something else happened. I became a Christian. I had always sort of considered myself a Christian, but had never really read the Bible or felt like God had any active participation in my life. (But that's an entirely different story.) One of the changes this brought in my life was a sense of freedom. I was no longer worried about what other people thought. I was able to be myself.

Interestingly enough, I found out I liked me. And strangely enough, other people did, too. I found that I had a gift for making friends and hospitality. You might ask, "You?" Yep, me.

I discovered that my quirks are what makes me who I am. I love comic books. I wear shorts in the winter. I love to laugh at really stupid movies. I get loud sometimes. I say what's on my mind. I love people and really mean it when I tell them, "The first time at my house you're a guest, if you come back, you're family." When I tell people, "Come to Atlanta, you can stay at our house," I sincerely hope they will.

What you see is what you get. The guy sitting in the cubicle next to you singing the Speed Racer theme song? That's me. If it bothers you, I'll stop, but I'm not embarrassed to be doing it. I've embraced my geek-ness and idiosyncrasies, and I'm loving life.

Do you like my lunchbox? I do.