Mr. Short Term Memory Visits the Hospital - SNL: A short essay

Given this skit happened in 1990, I believe I was in middle school.  

I love how memories work, pun intended.  Certain pop culture moments are connected to your past. I was a super geek, guaranteed that girls would never talk to me.  I hated attending school because I didn't fit in with the “cool kids”. At one point in my life, I decided to go my path.  I dressed and acted the way I wanted to.  I collected a few nerdy outsider friends as well.  We’d talk about VGs and Star Trek.  One of the nerdier things we’d discuss was the episodes of SNL.  From 10 to 21, SNL was in my life.  

Anyway, there was a rather butch girl named Betty.  She was tall, chunky, and unattractive.  She and I had a few clashes because she was a low-effort bully.  Because her life wasn't great, she found pleasure in being an asshole to everyone that didn’t fit the norm.  I think she hated me the most because I refused to change.  She never touched me or beat me up, but she used to make fun of me all the time.  

I sat in the bus seat with my friend Joey and we’d talk about the various geeky shows we watched on the weekend.  Furthermore, I talked about this skit “The Short Term Memory Guy”.  I remember acting it out, even doing the Tom Hanks voice. 

Behind me, I heard Betty asking one of the cool kids what I was talking about.  So, he mockingly repeated my nerdy story. So, Tom Hanks did a skit, mockingly doing a silly voice, on a show.  In return, I mocked Tom Hanks's mocking voice retelling the skit.  From there, one of the cool kids mocked me, mocking Tom Hanks's mocking voice.  We have a mocking inception here.  

I heard the whole thing.  At the time, I was a little hurt by this and got a little angry.  Why did they care about the geeky shit Joey and I discussed? Why would they intently listen to our conversation? Who cares?   

What was the point of this story? 

One of the things I’ve been known for today is telling good stories, both written and verbal.  I get into the story with voices and gestures, kind of like that skit. I give zero f’s if people mock them.  I am more comfortable in my skin to care what the “cool kids” think.  

This all came about due to this not-so-funny skit.