Being a token geek in high school wasn’t such a nice experience. Anyone with a slightly odd haircut or chunky glasses was knocked to the very bottom of the food chain for the sports fans and popular kids to poke fun at.
As a kid, rebelling against authority figures is considered ‘cool’, and being sent out of class is fun at the time but the problem is, these individuals spend so much time outside the classroom that they often leave school having ignored the best part of their education!
I think the last I heard of Joshua from my third period math class was that he still lives with his parents and can’t hold down a job for more than a couple of weeks. Joshua is now twenty six, and presumably still thinks it’s okay to stab people with compasses for fun.
If you look back at your time in school, you’ll usually find that the ‘geeks’ are doing pretty well by modern standards, and the bullies are still pretty much sat around eating PVA. Here are just a few reasons why it’s so much better to be a geek…
We Are So In Right Now
Ten years ago, technological advancements in popular culture were pretty much consigned to that weird little robot thing we had in class, which captivated everyone’s attention with its ability to drift around the floor in a sequence you programmed in manually.
Nowadays, tech has come to represent status and intelligence. Contemporary gadgets are amazing – just look at the iPad – and being able to work them makes you look like James Bond, or Gandalf or something.
Comic Con
Some of the most admired actors in the world have played roles in the cinematic versions of graphic novels. This adds all the more cool points to the humble comic book and also inspires international Geek celebrations like Comic Con; mostly attended by amazing authors, popular actors and girls walking around dressed like the prettiest one from Mortal Combat.
Web Humor
Geeks have their very own online communities that communally knock anyone who comes in to mock the geek way of life right down to the ground. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t have any friends I find quite as funny as spending an hour on Reddit.
Glasses
You may have noticed that some hipsters have taken to wearing chunky glasses with the lenses pushed out, because glasses are ‘cool’ now and the fakers actually have perfect vision. Now ours might not exactly be up to sleek aviator police sunglasses standards, but they’re much more acceptable than wearing a pair of empty frames for no reason.
We’re Smart
You probably remember taking refuge at break times in the library; but chances are that as a result, you also know a boatload more general knowledge than you realise.
Whilst the other kids were outside presumably having competitions to see who can throw fruit at the floor the hardest, you were enriching your young mind with literature designed to stretch your boundaries of understanding – something that will undoubtedly have had a positive knock on effect throughout your life. Hold fast, bookworm. Your time will come.
Tell me tales of your proud geek roots by commenting below!
Image by Terry Johnston
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