Pittsburgh, PA Geek Habits

Discussion in 'NorthEast Regional Discussion' started by greencat336, Mar 15, 2009.

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  1. greencat336 Jedi Grand Master

    Member Since:
    Jan 27, 2001
    star 5
    The article is about geek habits that annoy non geek spouses. I was much amused to find how many of these habits I have. They may annoy or puzzle nongeeks, but they seem very 'normal' to me.

    Here's the list:

    1. Punning - I remember when I was young, and thought that I must be the only geek (well, possibly nerd at that point) who loved to pun. Then I went to my first science fiction convention, and quickly learned Bsg that not only was I wrong, but that there were plenty of far worse offenders than I. That gave me something to aspire to, of course, which I did for a while. Since college, I've scaled back on the relentless punning I used to practice, but I'm sure I'll never quit completely.

    2. Using "frak," or Klingon, or both, instead of regular swear words - Yes, this is a marvelous way to avoid accidentally using real, English swear words in front of the kids. I suspect that's one of the reasons it can be annoying to others, though: it's like a loophole in the no-swearing-in-front-of-the-kids rule. I caught my wife using "frak" the other day, now that she's gotten into Battlestar Galactica, too (yes, just as it's about to end), but she claims to have done that just to make me smile and says it still annoys her when I do it. Still, I figure she'd be more annoyed by my using real swear words, so I think I'll stick with it.

    3. Weird or over-the-top ways of celebrating mainstream holidays - Geeks rarely do anything by halves, as anyone who's ever been to a costume contest at a major sci-fi convention can attest. So if we want to celebrate something we're likely to go all-out. This can mean going to great lengths with Halloween decorations, or, as I've done several times, making tentative plans to serve rabbit for Easter dinner and venison for Christmas dinner (yes, I know, reindeer are caribou, but it's close enough). No, I've never carried through on these threats plans, but when the kids are old enough not to be upset by the joke I might just. I do insist on playing Tom Lehrer's Christmas Carol at least once each December.


    5. Wearing obscurely geeky T-shirts to "normal" places - Every geek has at least a few of these; don't try to deny it. We love them, because we get the jokes and we know that only other geeks will get them, too. Unfortunately, they can make our less geeky significant others feel a bit conspicuous when out with us?or maybe they feel the geekiness will rub off on them, I'm not quite sure. Still, I feel that if I have to occasionally let my daughter wear a Hello Kitty shirt out of the house, I can wear my shirts from ThinkGeek.

    6. Requiring extra room in the house for geeky things - Not all geeks have exactly the same space needs, but we've all got more than most people. There are the comic book collections accumulated over several decades, the stacks of board games and RPGs, and the old computer equipment that might be useful someday, you never know! Some of us need just a good-size closet or two, some of us need a room, and some of us take over the entire basement. For some strange reason, the people we live with tend to get a little annoyed at this.

    Bunny 7. Geeky toys and decorations can be hard to explain to kids - Long has my plush vorpal bunny languished atop a tall bookcase, waiting for the day when my kids are old enough not to be scared by its huge bloody fangs. And how to properly explain my model of Minas Tirith to kids not quite old enough for The Lord of the Rings? I mean, if we say "You rem
  2. CernStormrunner Jedi Master

    Member Since:
    Jul 6, 2000
    star 4
    This of course reminds me of The Girls Guide to Geek Guys:

    By Mikki Halpin and Victoria Maat


    Why Geek Dudes Rule
    They are generally available.
    Other women will tend not to steal them.
    They can fix things.
    Your parents will love them.
    They're smart.

    Where The Geek Dude Lurks


    The Trek factor

    Once You've Nabbed Him
  3. PrincessB Jedi Knight

    Member Since:
    Jul 2, 2007
    totally ironic that this list fully applies to me..
  4. obanion Jedi Knight

    Member Since:
    May 17, 2005
    star 1
    I've cut back on the picking apart movies thing, because my wife has told me flat out that she really doesn't care about a film's technical aspects. Although, every Stephen King book that has been made into a movie is somehow fodder for her to do the same. and yes, my stuff does seem to take up more space than what a "normal" person would need. but hey, he who dies with the most toys wins, right?
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