In Praise of Geek Girls

I cannot begin to tell you how much of my life I wasted trying to look like I was "cool". I think it is enough to say that looking back on it now, it was too much.

I wasn't born to be cool. My parents didn't care about keeping up with the Joneses or the latest fashion trends. They were into their families and each other. They had old fashioned hobbies that involved buying antiques, sailing old boats and reading. Pop culture wasn't on their radar.

I struggled to be cool.  I can remember begging my mom to buy me earth shoes because they were "cool" and the guy at the store talked her out of letting me have a pair and I got a facsimile of earth shoes. I wanted a clear plastic tote for school that could be purchased at Kmart. I got a boat tote from LL Bean. It was always close, but not quite.

It mattered so much to me that I wasn't one of the cool kids. Ever. And I honestly believed that I would grow out of my awkward years and become a cool kid as an adult. A "cool kid" late bloomer, as it were. Oh but I was wrong.

Once a geek, always a geek. I only wish it hadn't taken me so long to embrace it.

I am a geek. A nerd. A freak. Insert [your name here] for someone who doesn't blend. 

I like figure skating. I like reading books. I like gardening and I like cats. I have more in common with Amy Farrah Fowler than Amy Poehler. I have had more bad hair days than good. I have had zits so big that I gave them names. I have walked out of public restrooms with my skirt tucked into my pantyhose. I have commuted 25 miles from home to job with the buckle of my trench coat dragging on the freeway. None of these things will ever make you a nominee for the cool kids club.

So if you can't join them, you have to form your own club. I only wonder why I waited so friggin' long.

I am now accepting new membership applications for the geek girls club. You'll know if you qualify.