1986 wrote:
There was a period when I was, and yes, people around me called me that as well. I donned the striped shirt, the vest and the thick glasses, had several encyclopedias in my room, and held as my highest achievement knowing the questions the champions on Jeopardy! didn't know. Then I got bullied a lot in 6th grade and promptly changed stategy to blend into the crowd.
The "little professor" phase was probably just that, a phase, caused by myopia onset which made fast-paced ball games difficult and forced me to dedicate my childhood to books and VHS tapes instead.
When I was middle-school age, I got a pair of black horn-rimmed glasses that I felt good wearing, but then discovered that I'd become "famous" for wearing them (at least one kid I didn't recognize approached me on the sidewalk and asked me if I was that kid with the horn-rimmed glasses). It turned out that sort of glasses was supposedly worn only by Jewish guys, and that neighborhood was rather anti-Semitic. I am not BTW Jewish, although apparently some people in our neighborhood did think our family was Jewish.
After entering puberty though, I took the exactly opposite direction, began smoking, and tried to wear what the popular kids were wearing, although for some reason I could never find the type of clothes they wore. It seemed they all got their clothes from some secret store I couldn't find.