Thursday, May 1, 2008

The Stranger Piece

I've been studying for a Sociology exam and got a little distracted by George Simmel's definition of the stranger.  Perhaps Simmel's 'stranger' explains why the new girl always seems so popular. Simmel expands on his basic definition with the idea that strangers are more objective than others in a group - they are in the group but not of it - because of this they are often accepted easily as an open-minded confidant. The thing is, I moved around a lot as a kid so I'm always cautious with new people, I'm not the sort to use strangers as confidants. Maybe New Girl senses this and has misinterpreted my caution as nonacceptance. Or perhaps I'm misinterpreting my nonacceptance as caution. Something to ponder.