What Kind of Nerd Am I?

This was a question asked of me this past weekend, at a friend's birthday party. It is one of those questions I should have had an answer prepared for (similar to the "What's Your Theme Song" question that was recently directed my way; the situation that followed that question is too embarrassing for me to share!).

My friend VC is married to someone quite famous, in the right circles. Also in attendance was their very good friend, someone else who also has the ability to make jaws drop. So many nerds would have willingly peed their pants to attend this party! However, I didn't know who these celebrities were, beyond their association to my friend.

J, of course, knew who they were, and enjoyed meeting them. He spent the better part of the evening sharing travel stories with them.

At one point, VC leaned over to me to whisper, "Isn't J totally nerding out that he's talking to KM right now???" The conversation then progressed to the point where I admitted that I really didn't recognize VC's husband's or KM's names. She was shocked. "I thought you were the type to watch Mystery Science Theatre 3000!"

"What kind of nerd are you, then?" VC and I then spent a few moments dredging up all the nerdy things in my past and all of my nerdy personality traits. I probably should have been quite embarrassed, but in that crowd it was as if I was pinning different shiny gold metals to my chest.

The conclusion was that I was indeed that kind of nerd, and it really was just an abberition that I was not intimately familiar with MST3k.

* * *

And now, to further publically document my own nerdy status, I have to share what I found when I looked into the word 'nerd' at http://www.thesaurus.com/ : "a geek is any smart person with an obsessive interest, a nerd is the same but also lacks social grace, and a dweeb is a mega-nerd."

Apparently, it's not bad to be a geek - being smart is a flattering personality trait, and who doesn't have at least one obsessive interest? The definition of nerd, though, isn't quite as appealing. Do I fit that definition? Unfortunately, the "What Is Your Theme Song?" situation cited above is demonstrative that I do lack social grace.

So, I am a nerd. What kind of nerd am I? The kind that should be watching Mystery Science 3000, but hasn't.

And, at least I'm not a dweeb!