#GeekSpeak: The sometimes random misadventures of @Abby_Cake

Sunday

Oct162011

Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 6:00AM | Comments Off | |

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Abby. I met her in Chicago at the #20SBSummit, and this chick is raaaddddd!! She considers herself more of a nerd than a geek - but I think she's just all shades of random and awesome. Oh and FTR, the TNTML stance on nerds versus geeks are that nerds are products of a genetic predisposition, and geeks are raised. BOOH-YAH!!! I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT ABBY!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @Abby_Cake

Full disclosure: I haven’t been on a lot of first dates. Most of my relationships have formed from a previous friendship or a lot of internet contact (IM, emails, etc.)

But there is one, really bad, first date that sticks out in my mind, and I felt like I should share it.

When I was a sophomore in college, I interviewed for a job as a webdesigner. Naturally, I got it because I am awesome (and also know HTML and CSS). Well, the guy who had to train me was older (not gross old, like 26), geeky and kind of looked like Harry Potter.

My boyfriend had just broken up with me via text message earlier in the week. I was lonely. And Harry Potter and I had already spent an evening playing Star Wars Monopoly and drinking cheap beer with his roommates. I was considerably younger than most of them, and they informed me several times I poured beer into plastic cups incorrectly. Who knew.

I figured the date would go fairly well.
I mean we had killer IM chemistry because we chatted all day at work, I had already met his friend, shown off my knowledge of Star Wars trivia and patience for extended board game sessions. He picked me up at my apartment after work and took me to Chili’s, which was probably the classiest restaurant in our small college town. Skillet queso is definitely date worthy.

We sit down and immediately his phone rang.

“It’s my mom,” he offered, apologetically.

I smiled and nodded, “Oh yeah, sure! Take it.”

The waitress came by and gave us menus while he answered the call.

As it turned out, he was the resident geek for his family, much like me. And the call was of vital importance: his mom needed to fix her CD burner.

I listened with mild interest as he detailed how to download the drivers and proceed with the installation process. The waitress returned to take our order and I smiled wanly, then nudged Harry Potter, who was not interested in ordering just then, despite my overwhelming hunger.

I contemplating eating his phone.

The date could have been salvaged at this point, but he stayed on the phone the whole time. I am talking, through dinner!! In between bites he was all, “No Mom, that’s not right” etc. WHAT THE HELL?

I am a cute female who knows interesting things and instead of talking to ME you are walking your mom STEP BY EFFING STEP through driver installation??

Not to mention the sad, lingering looks from our nosy-ass waitress. It was like she was trying to telepathically explain how pitiful I looked. I felt like an idiot. But he drove so I couldn’t leave.

The worst part? I went on a second date with him. Oh College Abby, there are so many things I wish I could tell you...

Geek-on-geek dating is hard. Many of us have little to no social skills. Fair warning.