Schadenfreude is a German word that means "delight at the misfortune of others."
Enjoy.

"Oh, there ain't no rest for the wicked,
Money don't grow on trees.
We got bills to pay,
We got mouths to feed,
There ain't nothing in this world for free."
- Ain't No Rest For the Wicked – Cage the Elephant

"This is going to be your main research project," my professor droned. "You must interview six to ten people that are socially unacceptable. Whether it be a minority, a frowned upon religion, or a criminal. They must not fit the mould. All you need to ask is why. Why did they choose this?"

Hmm. Not as bad as it could have could have been stuck asking old bats how they felt about society now compared to society in the Jurassic era when they were born.

"This will be due in one month," the professor warned. "Don't procrastinate. 'Why' is a very broad question. It could take several sessions to get a person of this social status to answer."

Why? It is a vague question, isn't it? You ask a person "Why?" and they reply, "Why what?" Why is a broad question when it comes to figuring out who a person really is.

My class was dismissed from class five minutes early. It was the last class of the day for me. I left the campus, walking to my apartment, which was a good fifteen blocks away. Every day, I came across diversity. Blacks, whites, browns, Asians, Latin Americans, Native Americans, Italians, Jews... I've seen them all on my walks to and from college.

According to the majority of the population of the great city of Seattle, I was "slumming it." I lived in the low income neighbourhood. I chose to live here. I could have some big fancy apartment and live the good life, but I wanted to see a different society. The society that gets all the pity, all the news reports, and no affection. We walk down the street and see that guy playing the guitar or the man with a cardboard sign saying, "Please, give me something." And we all toss a few bucks in, our smiles reassuring as we continue to walk towards our six-figure jobs and perfect lives.

We sympathize when the time calls for it. But, we can also turn to our friends and say, "Damn dirty Natives broke into my house and took the fucking TV!" or "Did you hear about that stabbing downtown? Must have been that gang of black kids terrorizing the town."

Yes, we're just a bunch of petty fakers. The whole world is a stage. That bastard Shakespeare knew what he was talking about. We are all actors and actresses in the biggest play of them all. Life. Sure, we don't get to have after-show parties and our costumes never come off, but we're always pretending to be something we're not.

Welcome to the twenty-first century, where everybody can be somebody and all the somebody's become everybody's.

Thank you to RosetteCullen for okaying this idea. Really. She's the love of my life.

Thank you also to my Beta, Sobriquett. She didn't Beta this, but she helped me with the last chapter. I love her infinite amounts as well.

Thanks for reading,
Mary