Being the contrarian

We paid the entrance fee and followed the crowd in front of us. It was our first visit to the San Diego Zoo. We had heard a lot about the zoo and were excited to enter. We followed the crowd straight-ahead, but then my wife and son veered right.

I was trailing the two of them, but the choice made total sense to me. When others go right, I tend to go left. When everyone else goes left, I go right. I’m a contrarian. And of course, we were rewarded. There was no one standing by the giraffe enclosure and we were able to get up close. We oohed and awed at the giraffes for a long time before starting on the rest of our zoo journey. 

It can be hard going it alone and against popular opinion, but I find that it’s usually the more satisfying choice. I naturally think of my blog writing. I could choose to keep my writing to myself or to not write at all, but instead, I choose to write about the things that move me and love the conversation with my readers.

I think too of the choices I’ve made throughout my life, even my choice of careers.

When I was in college, I was surrounded by Engineering and Business students. One night one of my friends, over one two many beers, joked about hating Engineering. I was perplexed. In a few short weeks, he was going to be graduating. I asked him why he didn’t pursue another major.

He told me it was the best way to make a ton of money. He joked too that his parents would have killed him if he changed his major. They expected him to an engineer. I could be wrong, but something tells me that I’m happier with my choices than he was with his.

Yes, I’ll take the contrarian path ten times out of ten.