My girlfriend and I say, half-jokingly, that she and I weren't made to NOT be adults. Neither of us think we are necessarily more mature or forward thinking or socially adapted than the average person, but being a well-adapted adolescent requires you to have an innate desire to fit in and a (genetic?) tolerance for accepting what happens to you, at least in the near term, as being out of your control.

I am terrible at these things. An overly emotional adolescent who is maladjusted to these norms, who is intellectually precocious but socially retarded doesn't really have an outlet.

Hey presto... sarcasm!

I think this is why Catcher in the Rye was powerful when I was 16 but is embarrassing to me now. I grew up, I gained some control over my life and my surroundings, and being a bitter, discontented back row spit-baller lost its appeal.