You know what really grinds my gears? Being a geek all of the sudden having something to do with being cool. Sure, Bill Gates is a filthy rich geek, but we are only considered geeks (dorks/nerds/etc) because we weren’t really comfortable with many things considered ‘cool’ by mainstream society. We were usually smarter than the average person – whether that translated into good grades in math, building computers, reading tons of books, or some other outlet. We might not have been given swirlies or shoved in lockers, but the things we really liked doing were not meant for the world to know. We gathered in secret covenants to enter the Forgotten Realms as heroic figures or to exhibit our hand/eye coordination in massive rounds of Goldeneye or Unreal Tournament. We watched epic tales of Wookies and Tribbles, and trounced our enemies with the sheer might of our Shivan Dragon. These are the things that entertained us the most – the essence of our childhood. Being a geek had nothing to do with being cool… but had everything to do with being ourselves. It was liberating, like taking off a mask you had no idea weighed you down. Now why the fuck are crowds of people all of the sudden pretending to associate with me because they play World of Warcraft or Halo 3? This constitutes to being a geek? I will wear my geekdom like a purlple fucking heart – I’ll tell people that I love White Wolf games and write them off when they look their noses down on me. I won’t quell my excitement over the announcement of the eeePC from ASUS, or hesitate to bring up that article on nanotube research or memristors I read about to my friends. Just because you liked watching the big green guy smash things in The Incredible Hulk does not mean I have to forget that you were the jock that made fun of the way I was in middle school, and it certainly does not make you and I the same clique.
Many people still hide their geekdom. These ‘Closet Geeks’ might even justify by stratifying fellow geeks into a hierarchy. ‘Im a geek, but he’s a dork’. ‘Im not a nerd’. Does this help you sleep at night? Does a fond memory of Magic: The Gathering prohibit me from going to a bar with my friends? Does owning Star Wars Trivial Persuit ban me from attending a concert? By discriminating against other people with different tastes – by labeling breeds of geekdom – we perpetuate the same feeling we get when our high school crush found out we played Dungeons and Dragons. We are unified under one common creed – if what we find entertaining doesn’t affect other people, why the fuck should anyone else dictate our personal time?

If being a geek is cool, then what is not cool? If everything is cool, then what does the cool status indicate? Nothing… but we all know that’s a lie (As is cake I hear). There is cool and uncool. And that which is geeky is still pretty much uncool. Did you like Iron Man? Of course… it was amazing. Did you point out the hints at War Machine or point out Jon Favreau’s character Happy Hogan and Pepper Potts get married in the comic? We are geeks because what we like gets us funny looks. We hang out, because we’re less apt to judge one another

In short… if you are not a geek, please stop considering yourself one. I don’t call myself a jock because I joined an inter-mural soccer team for a year.

And you know what else grinds my gears… when you can’t find those droids you’re looking for.