Barely educated

I heard from a friend who had a strong reaction to me labeling myself as barely educated. I'm also conflicted about describing myself this way but feel okay because I also state that I'm a somebody, as opposed to a nobody.

Having been the fat kid in Junior High and High School, I became very adept at making the jokes about myself first, before others could. It became second nature to denigrate myself first, even amongst friends.

I think there's still that fat kid in me that is ready to lob the first insult before anyone else does.

Also, the fact is, by society's standards, I am barely educated. I've noticed that a lot of the jobs that I'm interested in applying for are requiring a bachelor's degree. I can honestly say that 95% of my friends are all college graduates, some have even gone farther and acquired their master's degree. In most cases I don't feel inferior amongst my friends but there is a constant voice in the back of my head that says, "you're not as smart as them".

One thing I have learned to do more is not fake it. I spent so many years acting like I was on par with co-workers and friends. I realized that it was too much work to pretend to be smart, get the joke, get the reference, act like I know. A few simple words helped me out, " I don't understand" or "can you explain yourself". These were uttered in a simple matter of fact way. I quickly learned that most were willing to explain and then that lead to more interesting conversations. Very rarely did anyone put me down. I was usually the only one who did that.

So, yes, "barely educated" is stated as fact and with a wink of the eye. I may not have the breadth of knowledge that some have but I do have years of life experience and pretty damn good social skills and the willingness to learn.

I see this as an advantage but I would be lying if I said I don't have the occasional doubt and might keep quiet when the conversation turns to a topic or a reference I don't understand.

NOTE: Keep fleshing this out Eddy