Posted by Dinah on February 28, 2012, at 17:27:42
In reply to Re: No...well let me explain 'geekdom' lol » Dinah, posted by Shes_InItForTheMoney on February 28, 2012, at 14:10:00
I may not have played dungeons and dragons, or even worn a costume to Star Trek conventions. But I was at the conventions. My geek credentials are decent, if not stellar. My ideal of a dream vacation is Comic Con in San Diego. Moreover, my favorite people also have excellent geek credentials. Smart, funny, a bit off kilter, often socially awkward, and having fierce interest in interesting things. More interested in ideas than appearance.
I also understand alienation. I don't fit in well with others, even now. I doubt I'd have even fit in with your geek friends. I liked Andy Williams in high school. If you think that was any more acceptable than the music you liked, you'd be wrong. At least you were part of a group of people who liked the same thing. Try finding a high school kid in the late seventies who enjoyed chilling out to Hawaiian Wedding Song.
What I don't get is linking that to the suburbs. Do you think you would have been happier in rural or small town communities? I've known some small town communities, and I didn't find them all that geek friendly. I have less experience in urban areas. Perhaps clumsy, shy, slightly overweight kids who play dungeons and dragons have higher social status there.
I was tormented in some of the schools I was at. In other schools, I was tolerated and allowed to find my own niche. But it was a school by school difference. I was only tormented in schools that had uniforms. I've even come up with some theories as to why. But I think I'm jumping to conclusions about an awful lot of schools full of perfectly nice people.
I suppose it's likely that the larger the community the larger, on a purely numerical basis, the chance of finding like minded friends.
For that matter, did you make any attempt to seek out clumsy, shy, slightly overweight (or awkwardly skinny - like me) girls? There are a fair number of females who didn't have a lot of dates in high school too.
School is a hard time, regardless of whether it's suburban, rural, small town, or urban schools. School seems like the entire world and rejection there seems like the end of the world. Kids feel powerless in the face of the social structure of the school. Once school is left behind, people generally (but not always) have more power to choose their own environments.
poster:Dinah
thread:1011702
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120221/msgs/1011933.html