With Post Valentine Depression now well behind us, I thought it was time to cheer up and write about something more positive. A few days ago my wife turned to me, while I was brainstorming uber-geeky topics and ideas, and told me “You should write the top 10 reasons why someone should date a geek!”.
I paused for a second and with a puzzled look told her “Well, you tell me what they are…”. I’ve been with my wife for more than 10 years now and I’ve always wondered, why the *blip* did she choose me? What’s so special about me? Doesn’t my geekiness drive her mad?
After a long discussion and a bit of psychoanalysis, we managed to boil it down to the following reasons.
We’re Loyal
Loyalty runs in our veins. If a geek can be so loyal to their favourite gadget manufacturer, operating system, TV show, movies, fantasy heroes and so on, imagine what happens when they meet that special person. To top that, when we are in a serious relationship we feel like “the chosen one” and that’s something you just can’t risk losing.
We’re Caring
Just observe how a geek treats something that they love. Be it their gadgets, their collection of any sort (I love my CPU collection) or even their job. Look at how meticulous they are. You can be sure that when a geek loves you, they will give you all the care you need and make sure that you have everything.
We Don’t Create Problems, We Solve Them
Problem solving is our way of life. We are always looking for problems that need to be fixed and then find a solution. I think my wife is pretty happy that whenever a problem comes up, I’ll give it my best go to fix it. Of course the path to fixing it can be a bit chaotic and geeky (searching online, trial and error, zapping yourself from an open circuit) but the result pays off.
We Like to Listen (even though we may drift away)
Our brain usually runs at full speed and this can be a good and bad thing. The good thing is that we will listen to your problems for hours. The bad thing is that from time to time we might drift away and think about how we will solve the problem that’s killing our project. But hey, at least we are good listeners.
*Side-note: I have developed a very sophisticated filter that allows me to drift away while still paying attention for key words. That way I’m never caught off-guard.
We’re Creative
Even if a geek doesn’t realise it, we are inherently creative. Not in the “traditional” sense (most of us can’t draw, paint etc.) but in the more useful sense. Just last week I created an awesome pop-up Valentine’s card for my wife that was pixelated, double-points for me!
We’ll Search Very Hard for Your Present
Check idiosyncracy #5 from my previous post (I’m a Geek and it’s not my choice). This is not just for things that we buy for ourselves. Once we know that we need to get a present, then we go into searching mode. When I need to get a present for my one-and-only I check websites, read reviews, opinions, forums and anything else I can get my hands on, until I find the perfect gift.
We Learn Everything
The fact that we can’t stop learning new things can be very beneficial for you. If someone would normally say “How the hell should I know?”, the geek will not say anything and will try to find the nearest web touchpoint so they can search and learn the answer.
*Hint: This also applies to intimate situations.
We Can Adapt
You know how you’ve sometimes been in situations where your other half would act their own way and sort of embarass you? Well fear not, geeks have always had to adapt to their environment. This means that we can fit in every situation and always make you proud.
We Are Easy to Please
Present? What present? As a geek I make sure that I have pretty much everything that I need to satisfy my geekiness. If you are looking for a present for me then you have two choices. First, get me something that means something (even if that’s a hug). Second, just pick one of my interests and get me anything related to that, I’ll definitely like it (Vintage CPU anyone?).
No Sports Night
To this I will have to apply the 80/20 rule. Basically only 20% of geeks are interested in sports. If you hate sports night and all the shouting at the TV, then you won’t have to bear with it. Of course this doesn’t mean that you won’t have other themed nights. We have Dexter night, other’s have Star Trek night, you get what I mean.
Ten perfect reasons to date a geek. Do you need more? What are you waiting for? Put your computer to sleep and go find the perfect geek for your life :)
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