revenge of the nerds.

On my way to work one day, I was listening the radio morning show I favor. When I say that I favor it, I mean that it's the least offensive of the morning shows available in my area. Anyway, they were talking about geeks. By geeks, I mean nerds, eggheads, Einsteins, or my personal word of choice, dorks. And they were making fun of them in a completely unoriginal fashion. You know, pocket protectors and living with mom jokes. I was shocked and confused, and I think I impaired my own driving by staring at the radio incredulously and then yelling at it. "You're making fun of geeks? But, but, we win!" I thought that by adulthood everyone had noticed that the dorks were the ones making the money, but still, we get no respect.

It reminded me of my high school chemistry teacher, who taught the honors kids a cheer to use in the face of teasing. "That's alright, that's okay! You're gonna work for me one day!" I never heard anyone say it, but my reaction to that kind of mockery was just complete bafflement. I never really understood the kids who made fun of other kids for being smart. It's like they're trying to sabotage natural selection.

Ninety-five percent of my coworkers are dorks. Not just people who have a guilty Star Trek obsession, these are bonafide, math-loving, social skill-lacking, pure grade dorks. I'm immersed in this dork culture, which explains why I was so confused that a radio DJ would still mock us. We make fun of ourselves all the time, but we're smarter, so the jokes are better.

I would like to say that I love working amongst dorks. It's not just a matter of being able to hang out with people with similar interests, though I do love the way I can tell a computer joke and people actually laugh. No, it's the fact that I work with dorks who are finally comfortable with being dorks. They went through the torment of high school, they survived the horrors of puberty, and they came out on the other side realizing that they were never going to be prom kings, and that was okay. They've seen enough of the world to have found their place in it. They've quietly found pretty girls to marry and friends who accept them. They are intelligent and interesting people who finally feel confident enough to come out of their shells and let other people see that.

So, Mr. Wacky Morning DJ, please, feel free to continue to mock the dorks or the geeks or the nerds or whatever you'd like to call us. Dig deep into your repertoire of sophomoric one-liners and give it your best shot. We're easy targets, and we're known for not fighting back. We know we're winning anyway.