A Peculiar People

Last night, I was entertained for quite awhile after stumbling upon this awesome website: www.stuffmormonslike.com It is a site completely dedicated to discussing the strange cultural trends of the Mormons. Don't worry, it's written by fellow Mormons, and isn't offensive at all, just hilarious. After reading through it, shaking my head in agreement after each thing I could relate with, I had a new appreciation for the term "peculiar people." I've been thinking about it all day, and have come up with quite a list of my own "stuff Mormons like." I'll just share five.

1. Busy wedding announcements with cheesy poses. Six years ago, when designing my own wedding announcements, I made sure I included 4 photos, and thought I was doing pretty well. However, in the past year, I've seen several wedding announcements that put my measley 4 photos to shame. I've even seen them two-sided in order to fit every single cheesy pose. Fun, huh?

2. Napoleon Dynamite. I was told to go see this movie when it came out by a group of single LDS students. When I got to the theater, it was packed with, of course, more LDS people. Now even if you didn't know that the producers went to BYU, the lead actor is LDS, and it was filmed in Preston, ID, it wouldn't take long for an LDS person to feel a sense of familiarity with this film. It is packed with Mormon culture: Ricks t-shirt, tupperware sales, online dating, finding treasures at DI, uncomfortable dances, and of course no swearing.

3. Historical Fiction that everyone loves, but can't quite sort out the history and the fiction. When I visited Nauvoo a few years ago, the missionaries there told us that they often are asked where "Steed Row" is. And every time I drive through Sugar House, UT, I wonder where the Thomases might have lived.

4. Ultimate Frisbee. It you don't know about this one, maybe you've never been in a singles ward. This is a favorite among LDS young adults. If somebody dropped the ball and didn't get the activity planned, the elders' quorum president is bound to have a frisbee in his backpack, and before long, everybody is having a blast showing off their incredible "ultimate" skills.

5. Desserts disguised as salads. Now we pride ourselves in being the healthiest people on the planet, since we have the Word of Wisdom to help guide our health choices. However, the last time I attended a Mormon gathering, the choice of "salads" was rather interesting. Next to the regulars--potato salad and that cabbage salad with the uncooked ramen noodles in it--there were three other choices: Red jello with cool whip on the top, some sort of whipped jello that had cool whip, cream cheese, cottage cheese, or perhaps all three in it, and the new craze, "Cookie Salad." Now that sounds like an oxy-moron to me, but I've seen it now at several gatherings, and it's NOT on the dessert table. Maybe it's for all the moms who want to say, "Oh yes, my child loves to eat his salad." Who wouldn't?

We are peculiar, aren't we? If you have any other "stuff Mormons like" please comment. I'd love to hear some more on this topic.