On becoming a Geek

It turns out that "Geek" is not just a word, but a virus. Something highly contagious but at the same time insidiously unassuming. It is the type of disease that lies dormant for years- all the years that you could actually do something about getting rid of it- until the moment when it has truly caught hold of you, and then it flares it's ugly head.

About a year ago, upon not being able to agree on a dvd to watch, I said one fateful line to Phil:

"Oh, ok, I suppose we can watch an episode of your Star Trek boxed set...."

[As an aside, even as I write now, I can't believe I am confessing this.]

What then followed over next year is something I can only describe as the slippery slope of addiction. Anyone who knows me would contest to the fact that I am just not Sci-Fi Fan material, and yet somehow I succumbed. Like any addiction, I kept thinking I could stop at any time, and yet at the same time I would be waiting anxiously for Phil to come home so we could put in the next disk. Aside from the fact that he would be highly unhappy at me watching episodes without him, and therefore forcing him to play catch-up before we could continue together, I was also working on the fact that- like with alcohol or cigarettes- if you only consume with someone else then it is still socially acceptable. One could say it was like being a social smoker.

It occurred to me about 3 months ago that I was addicted. It was about the same time that someone cut me off while I was riding my scooter to work, and I swore at him... in Klingon. It was the only word I know in Klingon, but it was Klingon none-the-less.

I managed to confess the addiction to a few friends, but only after swearing them to silence. My reputation was at stake afterall. Like many addicts, I even moved on a few times to become a dealer- lending out dvds to others. I can only imagine that I will feel the guilt of their ensuing addiction for as long as I live.

However the moment in which I truly realised the insidious nature of this "disease" came only a few days ago. I had accepted that I was an addict- a 'fan' if you will- however I still did not consider myself a geek. Yet on that fateful night Phil and I were watching an episode of 'Deep Space Nine', when two of the show's characters were sitting in a small space ship (a runabout) when they noticed something strange happening:

Character 1: "A ship is decloaking directly above us"

[The camera pans out to show a huge spaceship emerging from it's invisibility cloak above the small ship]

At that moment I gasped in horror and uttered "It's a Romulan Warbird!"

[The camera pans back in to show the original characters in their small ship]

Character 1: "It's a Romulan Warbird!"

Yes, I managed not only to follow the story line, but recognise a random spaceship and then announce it word-for-word before the character on the show did.

It's official- I'm a geek.

I hope they find a cure for this disease soon, but I think sadly it will be for the generations to come. I myself am a lost cause.

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PS. The blogger auto spell check dictionary does not recognise British English spelling, and yet it recognises the word "Klingon"! The disease is spreading...

A Romulan Warbird