I kind of want to continue the theme of my last post. Bare with me people. I have a lot to say….
The most essential thing of being a geek is what you “geek out” about. There are so many sub-genera's in the geek culture that, though we are alienated already we further alienate ourselves. The only thing that helps this isolation from the mainstream is the people we meet that share our interests. Our friends.
I have always been lucky to have a core group of friends that were all brought together for the love of the geek life. I met most of my friends when I was around fifteen years old. I, like many people that age, was trying to hide the fact that I was a geek. When I met these people I was finally able to geek out without the fear of judgment.
I wanted to get into D&D, I had friends that wanted to do it. I wanted to learn programming, I had a friend that was already learning. I was never alone in pursuing the geek things that made me happy. It is a feeling that to this day I cannot explain.
I am a firm believer that geeks have better friendships for the reasons I’ve already listed. We are a culture that is already isolated for being on the fringe, and its always amazing to find those people that share your pains and joys. Even when those pains and joys are about a new OS or the newest remaster of Star Wars. Hell people are even making money giving geeks a place to come to meet other people just like them.
When I fell out of tech for the short while I lost friends as well. I know I will never lose these people forever because they are so much a part of my life, but what do you talk about when your not talking about the one thing that makes your life? This post is dedicated to all my friends that have pushed me through the years. the ones that wouldn’t let me give up after I tried installing linux for the fifth time or when I couldn’t learn a programming language. Friendship isn’t always forever, but when you’re a geek it is.
This is for all the geeks….and your friends.