What are people thinking? Or are they?

Today, in the course of normal workplace conversation, I told someone that we are planning to homeschool the Bumble Bean.  She responded with, "Oh my God! Why would you do that to your kid?  No one likes homeschooled kids!"

It had never occurred to me to have a popularity contest be part of my child-rearing policy.  Now that I think of it though, there are quite a few children I would like to vote out of the next round.  I wonder if that means sterilization or just a dunce cap?

I do wonder how prevalent this attitude is.  I think most people would be unlikely to say it to my face since to do so would be incredibly rude and offensive.  Even though I am very hard to offend and usually impervious to rudeness, it got me thinking, and this is what I thought:

1. Yes, a majority of homeschoolers tend to be some degree of elitist about and I do find it aggravating and counterproductive but I'll take it over vaster ignorance, helplessness, uselessness and waste.
2. I've never been like most people, even before I was homeschooled, and that has never noticeably stopped people from liking me.  In fact, maybe I should pro-actively tell people who seem inclined to be too glommily friendly.
3. I'm a LIBRARIAN for Christ's sake!  Mainstream is obviously not a primary concern of mine.
4. I'd rather my kid in be in therapy for years and years because he didn't have access to broadcast television than live in desperate mediocrity his whole life.  (Yes, I know that's elitist.)
5. As she left, she thanked me for the opportunity to think for the first time today...apparently not even realizing that she was illustrating my point that school prepares children for lives of dullness and drudgery: putting up with pointless exercises day after day; classes and homework when in school, meetings forever after that, ad nauseum (no barf-bag included).
6. A newly realized reason I want to be independently wealthy: I won't have to attend meetings.