The Geeking Hour

Did you know, that between the hours of 4 and 5 p.m., the geeks come out to play?

And not just any geeks. These geeks put the -eek in geek and are geeks of the geekiest kind. They wear socks with sandals and flip-flops, tape surrounds the middle of their glasses, and when they find a word math problem particularly funny, a snort erupts in the midst of giggles.

They attend every class, diligently soaking up any and all information they can from their professors. Then, they begin the homework they've set aside for themselves, working away most of the afternoon.

But at four, they come out to play.

How do I know?

Because while I was at work today in my little convenience store of fun, I saw an increased amount of geek activity. Between the hours of four and five, ten of the twelve individuals who came into the store were mega-geeks. Geeks that are so geeky that your Geek-dar doesn't even have to warn you of their geekiness. You already know.

One geekling that came in was wearing socks with sandals and ankle weights. Ankle weights! This is the only time I have ever seen ankle weights being worn in public!

Anyway, he enters. He paces the store. I'm doing some homework. He stops right in front of me and says, "I see you're working as a student while you work as a citizen."

Who says stuff like that?

He then continues to ramble. "I also thought about finding a job on campus. But most of those jobs are already taken by students like yourself."

I thought he was a student! If he's not a student, what the hell is he doing, wandering a college campus with his ankle weights?

"How does the purchasing happen in this store?"

Well, you see, it's a fairly simple process. You pick out something you like in the store, and if you have enough money, I'll trade you the item for your cash.

"I was going to drop in to see my advisor, but she's been extremely busy and did not have time for me. At least, that's what the note on her door said. I'm going to check back in a few minutes."

By all means, go check now! And don't come back!

But no. He stayed for quite a while, talking to me. Me! What in the world have I done to deserve this kind of punishment? He continued to speak at me. This poor child has had little social interaction in his life. And while I would like for him to have some practice in social settings, I do not have the patience to help him.

That was only one of my ten encounters with geeklings for the afternoon.

I know that I am a bit of a geek myself. But I don't think that I could ever be as geeky as these children that I saw today. When I find myself in situations with incredibly geeky individuals, I usually exit the area as quickly as possible. But I couldn't do anything but stand there and take the geek-torture.

It was someone's idea of a very cruel joke. I'm sure of it. It's a damn conspiracy. *nods*