52% intelligent. 9% modest. More monkey than bear.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

I came in here for that special offer - a guaranteed personality...

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I saw two geeks in the supermarket this afternoon. Well, I suppose they could have been nerds, but I'm not too up on the whole geek/nerd taxonomy thing. Anyway. They were pushing their trolley along in the bread/cereals aisle when I spotted them. I'm not sure why they caught my eye really as they both looked fairly average. Perhaps they were a little short; perhaps their hair was a touch unruly; perhaps their skin was a touch pasty and a bit spotty. None of these things particularly marked them out though. It must have been their voices. Their voices both had that distinctly geeky/nerdy edge to them.

I only caught a fragment of their conversation, but it was enough to confirm my impression:

"....I don't know if she's a medical doctor or a PhD, but she's definitely a real doctor"

"As opposed to a fake doctor?"

"Haha! Yeah, as opposed to a fake doctor. A fake doctor like Dr.Dre!"

"Or Doctor Fox"

"I trust you mean the disc jockey and not Dr. Liam Fox the Shadow Secretary for Defence?"

"Oh no, Dr. Liam Fox the Shadow Secretary for Defence is a real doctor. Dr. Liam Fox is a medical doctor."

"Yes! hahaha!"

Sadly, at this point, our journeys through the supermarket diverged as they pushed on into jams and conserves and I moved around the corner towards the canned goods, smiling to myself.

I'm really not so very different to them.

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4 Comments:

  • At 9:41 pm, Blogger HistoryGeek said…

    Embrace your geekiness! It's really fun.

     
  • At 12:14 pm, Blogger Cat said…

    Overheard in the video shop on Saturday night:

    Girl: "What's that you have there? King-fu and hot babes? I don't think so."

    Boy: "I was just looking."

    (Sadly, this conversation took place between me and RH. I fear the people around were laughing at me, not with me.)

     
  • At 3:24 pm, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I wasn't aware there was a geek/nerd taxonomy...I figure they are interchangeable, in that they both mean that if I dated one, he would be spending more time with his computers and/or video games than with me. ;)

     
  • At 5:58 pm, Blogger HistoryGeek said…

    j - there is definitely a debate about the definitions and their differences. Wikipedia lists "geek" as an individual who is fascinated by knowledge and imagination, usually electronic or virtual in nature. "Nerd" is listed as someone who passionately pursues intellectual or esoteric knowledge or pastimes rather than engaging in social life, organized sports or other mainstream activities.

    I think the perception of both is of a group of people who are socially isolated or socially awkward. This is actually a part of the Meriam Webster definition of nerd. The basic qualification for both, though, is someone who pursues their passions for passion's sake not for money or glory, etc.

     

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