Who is Mike?
“I’m the kind of guy who just stays in the background,” said Mike Zegil, the World’s Most Average Canadian.
Zegil received the title after winning a contest run by Definitely Not the Opera on CBC Radio One. This magazine-style radio program aired the contest nationally and accepted entries by e-mail.
“I don’t really know why,” said Zegil when asked what prompted him to enter the contest. “I’m not really an attention seeker.”
Averageness is a difficult thing to measure. And so many people are, at best, average.
But of all the entries DNTO received, Zegil was the winner.
“I am an average-looking 27 year old who is of average height with brown hair and eyes (the most average colour),” Zegil wrote in his e-mail to DNTO. “I have performed no great feats or have tried to distinguish myself in any way, shape or form….I am the Common people, I am Every man.”
Zegil is attending Laurentian University as a Biology Masters student. Perhaps studying for a Masters degree is not particularly average, but Zegil has always achieved average grades.
“Never lower than 70,” said Zegil, “But never higher than 80.”
One of the best indicators of a person’s uniqueness, or averageness in this case, is the kind of impression they leave on people they meet.
“I just don’t make an impression,” said Zegil. For instance, Zegil has been friends with Peter Shivkumar since they were in grade eight. He has met Peter’s parents on several occasions.
“ ‘Oh, who are you? Are you one of Peter’s friends?’ ” said Zegil, mimicking his friend’s parents reaction to seeing him again.
Even his friends tend to forget him. After high school graduation, Zegil and some friends sat around a table reminiscing about days past. Zegil brought up a brawl the boys had been in when they were in grade three.
“ ‘That was you?’ ” said his friends. “ ‘You were there?’ ”
Apparently Zegil could be substituted by just about anyone in most situations, and no one would notice the difference.
Average is never memorable.
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