Yesterday, I made a lunch time run to Lowe’s to pick up some light bulbs. Searching for the particular oddball bulb I needed, I dodged the incoming lunch hour crowd. Why do they put the light bulbs on the entrance aisle, I wondered. Home Depot does it too. Are they high margin products?
Then I noticed two soldiers scoping out the light bulbs. One was US Army, the other in a uniform of some other country. There are a couple military supply depots in the area, so it’s not an uncommon sight.
After I found my bulb and turned to leave, the US soldier caught my eye, and said, “Excuse me, Sir.”
“Yes?” I replied.
”Would you happen to know if there is a Radio Shack near by?”
“Sure!” I said, and I proceeded to give him directions to the Radio Shack about a half mile down the road.
Then, hit by a wave of curiosity, I asked, “Out of all the people milling around here, why did you choose me to ask for directions?”
He replied, “Well, you just look like someone who would know how to get to the nearest Radio Shack!”
I shook my head a bit, and sighed, and I think he sensed a bit of discomfort.
He smiled, and added, “I work with a lot of civilian engineers and techs, and you just have that look! Shorts and a company logo golf shirt, sandals with socks, $20 Casio watch, shaggy hair, beard, mustache, out on your lunch break…..”
“Gee, thanks. I guess…” I said, and we parted ways.
On the way back to work, I suffered a touch of self doubt. Was it really that obvious? Maybe the soldier was a wise old warrior, skilled in the art of reading people, able to immediately discern potential adversaries or allies. Although I suspect he was just a parts clerk….
But when I looked at myself, I could see it probably was THAT obvious.
Then I lost myself in the business of engineering geekery at the office the rest of the afternoon.
At home later, I asked my wife for her opinion. She confirmed the soldier’s diagnosis: I look and dress like a geek. But she hugged me, and told me it was all OK as long as I was her geek. I went to sleep, pondering the significance of it all.
I woke up this morning, settled down for breakfast in front of my PC, and started scanning the web for the news of the day. Bombings in Indonesia, some healthcare reform crap, chance of thunderstorms today. Then on to some blogs.
Not much happened here at Dean’s World overnight. Next stop, Instapundit. And what do I see first? A story about geeks! Then it all came back to me from the night before.
And I hit 10 out of 10 on that list. Well, maybe closer to 9.5. I loved the muppets, but I can’t recall many of their names or famous quotes.
But that sealed the deal. Yes, I am a geek. Always have been, always will be.
So why even pretend to look like something I am not?
I don’t want to actually flaunt my geekness. No flags, or stickers on my car with little schematic symbols (or maybe a C:/ prompt). Not that there is anything wrong with that! It’s just not for me. But I’ll no longer worry if people look at me and instantly think “geek”.
From this day forward, I will be comfortable in my own geeky skin!
And in my sandals with socks….
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Dude! I rock the sandals and socks too! I don’t have any company logo polo shirts, alas. I do have an expanding collection of Hawaiian-style button down shirts, though. Usually sported with a pair of knee-length jean or cargo shorts.
I try to avoid combing my hair when possible. I think it makes me look stylish.
You did your C-prompt wrong, BTW. Backslash, not forward slash.
The c:\ prompt thing was actually a test to see how long it would take for someone to correct me .
I’m impressed!
Heh… if you don’t play D&D, you don’t hit 9.5 out of 10 on the geek scale.
I have been comfortable in my geekness all my life. I think I have before revealed that many of my classmates referred to me as “Spock.” I used to wear a slide rule on my belt.
Today I still reek of geekdom. My clothes are functional, not flashy. I stopped wearing a watch because I have a cell phone now and can’t understand why I need to carry two devices that tell me the time. I don’t wear any jewelry other than my wedding ring. I have white socks on as I type this. I have a closet full of vendor supplied T-shirts and golf shirts. I wear baggy shorts with lots of pockets. When I go hiking I carry a GPS, compact binoculars, at least two kinds of multi-tool, emergency fire-making kit, flashlight and iPod in a black nylon fanny pack. My walking stick has a camera mounting screw on it. I also wear white gym socks and hiking boots.
Some of my hobbies are reading, writing, computer programming, stargazing, role-playing, computer gaming and guitar.
I have a maxed out rogue in World of Warcraft.
At my 30 year high school reunion we had a geek contest. I won by acclamation.
I am a proud geek. I would take it as a sincere compliment if someone told me “you look like someone who would know where the nearest Radio Shack is.” In fact, I do know where the nearest radio shack is from work, from home and from most places in between. I used to treat Radio Shack as a sort of a shrine…
Geekdom is the essence of humanity.
… And of course I would not be caught dead in socks and sandals. I have been known to wear cowboy boots with shorts though.
I just tried the socks with sandals thing for the first time this summer. It’s very common in the North West, but it’s pretty rare around here.
I’m never going sockless again! The little quarter sock super wicking thingies are great. I still haven’t quite figured out the physics, but they really do keep your feet cooler and drier than going with no socks at all.
What is amazing to me is how I’ve managed to have a successful career in management in spite of my obvious geekness.
Also, true geeks know that CP/M was the superior operating system. Or Mac, or even better, Amiga.
Any “geek” with a “C:/” prompt on a bumper sticker is a geek poseur. Real geeks used Unix.
Real geeks write their own OS.
Really lucky geeks sell a license for that OS to a major multinational corporation and make lots of money.
Muppets? Bah.
Monty Python? Sure.
Derek:
Is there an example of a “really lucky geek” who “wrote their own OS?”
The only one I know of is Steve Wozniak. And he didn’t sell it to a major corporation.
Do you mean Bill Gates? I thought it was common knowledge that Bill Gates took the CP/M source code and modified it slightly to become the first version of MS-DOS. I’m not even sure Bill Gates qualifies as a geek. Neither does Steve Jobs. Steve Wozniak is the archetypal geek.
Kristian, yep, I have no idea why “Muppets” is associated with “geek”. I’ve been a geek since at least 1975 and I never once had a converstation with another geek about muppets.
Monty Python? I’ve spent untold hours quoting Monty Python and the Holy Grail scenes with other geeks. But Muppets? Nope. Zip. Nada. Nothing.
Muppets+Geek = teh phail
CC, yes appearance standards sure have changed over the years. When I first started out, even a lowly engineer was expected to follow the “Dress for Success” dress code. I don’t know how many power ties I killed with solder holes burnt into them! Glad to see that crap go!
And don’t even get me started on the definition of REAL geeks. Some folks won’t even let software guys into the fold. The old “you can’t spell geek without an EE in the middle” thing…..
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4007:5j5qar.4.1
Heh… I used to have long discussions about what I called the “geek heirarchy.” At the very, very top were the chip designers. Underneath them were the micro coders. Then there were the machine coders, then the assembler coders, then the C coders, then the Cobol, then the “4GL” then the “Web” etc… By the time you get to java web coding you’re about eight levels below the true “geeks.”
But that was only about bragging rights. I granted “geekdom” to all programmers.
Well, except those PERL and PHP jockeys of course.
I actually have written a couple of RTOSes, and three special-purpose database engines (which you may be using if you own a Cadillac, Honda, or Acura as they’re in the infotainment and nav systems). I’m now on my fourth. I had an Amiga for many years, and ran a computer store for awhile…
But other than trivial HTML stuff, I’ve never done any “web tech”.
I do wear sandals, but no socks, and have a closet full of startup swag from long-dead companies. I’m a serial startup guy; I always figured that part of being a tech geek is you have to get rich at least once from an IPO or other money event :)
Working for a meganormous company where suits rule is not an option.
Where I break some rules is I have a slightly nicer watch (having lived in Asia for awhile), and tend to not be much of a gadget-freak, particularly when it comes to comm-related stuff. I don’t want people to find me unless I want to be found!
foobarista,
I’m with you on the comms gear! I’ve got one 6 year old cellphone that I carry around for emergencies and occasional use during travel. I have no clue what my phone number is.
Although I did just get a netbook a couple weeks ago, and I’m really liking it, so maybe I’m at a turning point….
I guess the main rules I break are that I never got rich on a startup and I currently work for a meganormous corporation where “business casual” rules.
CC: I said “write their own OS.” If I had wanted to say “Add slightly to someone else’s code and pass it off as their own OS,” I would have. (Horton moment: I meant what I wrote and I wrote what I meant. :) )
I thought of Bill Gates when I wrote the comment, so I can see how you made the connection But I wasn’t talking about Bill Gates. I was thinking more of other I know who have written software from scratch that made them a tidy sum when purchased by a big, multinational corporation.
Derek: Cool, we’re on the same page then. :)
For me, “business casual” means “the T-shirt doesn’t have too many holes in it, and if customers may show up, wear something with a collar”. Although I did grudgingly wear suits when I was in Japan (which sucked amazingly, especially since our Japan office kept their office above 80).
As for working in a big company, I learned that startups are actually safer; if a startup or small company lays you off, it’s because the company is dyinng or you aren’t pulling your weight. Big companies can lay you off because the whole “biz unit” is deemed expendable. Also, I have a zero-tolerance attitude toward self-important bureaucratic types which would not work in a big company (and can cause problems even in little companies).
Actually, Bill Gates would classify as a geek from a programming perspective. He did write Altair BASIC, and a number of other programs. (I seem to remember that he was the primary programmer of Amiga BASIC as well.)
As for *nix, can’t really stand it much. I find it too kludgie and almost deliberately obfuscated in many ways. I understand many of the base design decisions in *nix, and they often make sense if examined from a historical or developer perspective (Though not a normal user perspective.) It also might be that it is too close to my first OS love, AmigaOS. (Not my first OS, just the first OS that I truly enjoyed/loved.)
CC: You’re on the same page I am? I am so sorry for you! Please, seek help. No one deserves to be on the same page I am!
:)
I actually don’t understand the socks and sandals thing.
I have learned to make fun of it because I have been told it looks dorky, and so I chuckle about it. But I don’t think it looks dorky. I don’t think it looks like anything but reasonable, practical, comfortable footwear in certain weather conditions.
I think I probably get extra geek points for being truly mystified by this one. ;-)
Dean, you run a blog where people talk about being geeks, and debate the fine points of socks and sandals.. You don’t need extra geek points. Your tally is full already!
;)
By the way, to Cosmic’s point:
Someone who can effectively manage geeks is going to be quite valuable to an organization that employs them. Because we’re a notoriously difficult to manage bunch. All that thinking for yourself, questioning authority, not accepting answers until they make sense to you–that’s the exact sort of personality that is hard indeed to manage. And in my experience, most corporate managers have literally no idea how to deal with it effectively, except to try to crush all that geek spirit that’s so valuable in the first place. Oh, not on purpose, but so many managers do it…
Dean,
That’s what I do. I call it geek herding.
I’ve got 18 geeks reporting to me here, and 30 some others from remote locations around the world.
My job description says “keep them happy”, and I do.
Like most technical jobs, it is self proving. In other words, you either make it work, or you don’t, and it’s pretty obvious either way. It can’t be faked for more that a few months.
It pays well when you make it work.
And BTW, I still have my own active engineering projects to solve.
I questioned the wisdom of that at first, but now I see that it keeps me honest, up to date, and earns me massive street cred with the other geeks.
And truth be told, it makes me happy too!
My current position does not have me managing anyone, much less geeks. But I think over the years that’s really been my favorite thing to do. In the past I’ve formed pretty strong teams of geeks and non-geeks alike. I probably should maneuver to get back in that role again, but at the moment my current organization feels I’m more valuable doing what I’m doing.
And it pays fairly well, so I’m ok with it.
Hmmm. As a non-geek, I’m feeling like an oppressed minority on this thread:)
Anyone wanna drink a beer and find some girls?
–HB
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