A Nerd Among Nerds

I am nerd among nerds. This is not one of those self-depreciating stories in which the author calls himself a nerd just to show off how smart he is. I work in the IT department at large office. Technically I'm not an IT guy. I'm a printer technician and I suppose I have to be put somewhere.

I was moved into the depot with the IT guys. We are contractors so they have to hide us somewhere, away from general population. I have no problems with this, everyone’s nice and we all get along.

Sometimes, however, I really start to feel out of place. Everyone talks about D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) and I am completely lost. I am beyond lost; I have no idea what they are talking about. A level three Lord Soth consorting with what? They may even ask what I think about a D&D situation. I stammer and try to answer as they all laugh in delight. I feel like I’m at the cool kid’s lunch table.

Then there's Star Trek, they will talk about episodes, characters, movies and anything else related. I've never seen a single episode. Here I am again, left out in the dark. I’m such a loser, then I have an idea. Hey do you guys play fantasy football? They stare at me like I’m a low level rogue in one of their D&D games.

I slink back down in my cube, banished from the nerd talk that surrounds me. I’m allowed to listen, but not take part. I wouldn't know what to say, I feel so uncool. I cannot relate to talk of wizards and demons. I have no input on cheesy sci-fi films that are watched solely for their comedic value.

I don't mean any of this as a put down. Quite the opposite, these guys are very comfortable in their nerdom, they have no qualms with it at all. They even embrace it. Any workday can turn into an impromptu trivia contest, testing the knowledge of anything from Saved By the Bell episodes to He-man characters. Their knowledge of these things knows no bounds, it's truly amazing. If they ever have nerd jeopardy, watch out.

They are great guys too. I've learned a lot about computers and software from the IT department. They always find funny youtube clips and other good stuff online way before most people. But when they're having their own discussion, I've learned to stay out of it. I have nothing to contribute in certain conversations. Especially with the bronies. For those that do not know, a brony is a twenty or thirty year old male who enjoys the My Little Pony cartoons from the eighties, I'm not making this up.

Sometimes I am allowed to partake. There may be a conversation about sports or music, things I can relate to. I'm all too eager to join in, I start to talk about sports, trying not to go to far with a reference that will be lost upon my audience. I start to heat up and talk about classic games of the past, or a particular player from the 80's...then it's to late. I've lost my audience.

I turn around and walk back to my desk in defeat. The IT guys talk about their upcoming D&D game. Whose game it is and what the current storyline may be. I'm such a dork, why couldn't I have just taken it slow? Once again I have blown it. Maybe I should look into this D&D thing. No, it's still not worth it, and I hate science fiction. I will just have to suffer through being the nerd among the nerds.

Just as I have come to accept my being unaccepted, I hear my name. Someone's asking me something. I jump up to see what's going on.

"Hey, who's that footbal guy...the one who broke his leg real bad?"

"Joe Theismann!" I answer, just a little too eager.

"I knew you'd know...Thanks man"

I sit back down, full of pride. I guess I do serve a purpose here after all.