Weird   We learn the rules early on, older kids teaching the younger: some are kings, some pawns. And that’s the game — you can’t not play. The hidden   ball trick always works — the world needs losers like Jesus needs Judas. And who did what to whom, whose name is the funniest, who   is cool, who is weird. That’s the worst — beyond stupid, fat, stinky, ugly, red, or blue, weird is worst. We learn the rules early on.     © Michael Fleming Brattleboro, Vermont April 2012