neurasthenya: So, Goglins, what thing of "cultural importance" you couldn't be arsed to experience or like for whatever reason? And that when you talk about it makes people go crazy over it? How do you feel when you tell people about it?
Oh, about this question specifically...
Sports events. Especially soccer/football. I just seriously can't get excited watching them usually. Like when the Euro Cup or whatever matches were going on earlier this year, I was somewhere where I met people I hadn't seen before, someone strikes a conversation "So what do you think about the football matches, did you watch it yesterday?".
I was saved by a bell when another guy just said "Sorry I don't watch them, I couldn't care less.". I would have wanted to say the same but fortunately he said it, and very bluntly. So that was the end of that conversation, next we talked about the Finnish weather I guess.
It was like that case when someone in a bar asked me many years ago "So which country do you support?" when there was some England-Italy football match ongoing on the TV, and to me the question was as odd as if I was asked which I like more, snails or frogs. Who cares, and why would I have a favorite of two foreign countries playing?!?
I admit it may be partly because Finland is not known as a great soccer country, but then that doesn't seem to stop many Finns from being very religious of watching (foreign) soccer matches. Even in sports where Finland is doing ok (say ice hockey), my attitude is lukewarm, like "Finland won the world championships in ice hockey? Nice! Hmm did I remember to buy groceries for tomorrow?".
I just seem to miss that "religious attitude towards sports events"-gene, even though especially my oldest brother seems to have it very strongly, he was the kind who would watch some sports event on the TV very excited and constantly shout at the TV angrily, and I was there watching him "Is he serious? Who the effing cares?".
It doesn't really seem to have anything to do with (or not) being a competitive person, because at least when I am playing e.g. Team Fortress 2 with other people, I do get a very competitive feeling and want to be the best. Same when e.g. playing soccer at school, or running 100 meters etc. I personally think it is more related to how suspectible a person is to "mass hysteria", e.g. how easily one would follow some charismatic leader (Hitler, Trump, Manson, what have you), or get all ooh and aah watching some celebrity singing in a concert. I usually feel like an outsider in mass public situations like those, having a strong "whatever..."-feeling in me.
