Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like the odd one out?

Absolutely. My most monumental experience with this was definitely my first day at the drug/alchohol rehab I attended. Here's a small excerpt from my time there:

I was infuriated, depressed, coming down off of Oxycontin, and had never felt more inferior in my entire life. I was escorted to the Phase 1 dorm by a director. There, I was introduced to senior students, as well as my dorm mates. So here I was, a swirling fiery ball of hormones and mixed emotions, in a room with guys who had earned their freedoms back and knew the ropes. I was helpless, stripped of all power, and defeated. The guys on my phase wanted nothing more than to beat me to the point of near death, while the upperclassmen remained relaxed. They'd been where I was, in this slaughterhouse. I was the new guy, the rookie, the prey.

Now, after a month or two, I began to make my self known. So, in the end it all worked out. Yet, I was certainly the "odd one out" for the first two months I was there. I attended the program for thirteen. Talk about having to man up!

Yes, haven't we all at some point? In fact, I feel this almost everyday when I use my Android phone in an office full of Apple addicts!

Jokes aside, I've been in far too many social situations to count when I've been the 'odd one out', but I don't think that's necessarily a negative thing! Life would be terribly boring if everyone conformed to the same ideas and values.

I've found that these situations occur more frequently as we get older, compared to when we were children. This is because people tend to become more 'closed-off' as they grow older, this is probably explained by:

• Their number of friends shrinks.
• They tend to hang around with people from the same social class.
• Life becomes 'busier', people spend more time with their partners and at work, and therefore have less time for socialising.