There was a moment today where I found myself in what I’d call a nerd hive. There are a couple of places that tend to attract the stereotypical nerd-types. Certainly, computer part stores are among those places. I wonder what it says about me being in such a place. Hmm. Well, I was actually there with a colleague who was actually going in for parts. The inside of the store was stuffy and poorly ventilated with so many machines pumping hot air into the room. That only accented the body odours of the people the room. There was an overweight guy in glasses and an ill-fitting tee sipping on a diet Coke while browsing the motherboards. There was a pair of guys obviously from the university with backpacks looking pretty shabby while discussing what kind of system to build. In came in this young guy who was entirely ripe smelling. When he passed by, I had to hold my breath. Whatever melange of unwashed body juices that I didn’t manage to stop actually reminded me of the fact that Toronto was in a strike situation and that garbage wasn’t being collected. Perhaps I’m just exaggerating his smell. Maybe I’m not. He managed to converse with a store minder about computer parts by listing off a mix of letters and numbers such that there seemed to be this understanding that I was not privy to.

OK, so certainly a computer parts place isn’t the most glamourous of places. I’ve had to go into my share of such stores to get parts. Still, why did that store at that time seem to cause people fitting the stereotypical nerd profile to congregate? I’m all for celebrating nerd-dom when it’s done positively, but if it continues to promote negative stereotypes among the general population, is it really that great? Have some self-respect, man! *sigh*