Nerds Can Wear D-bag Tanks, Too

Everyone is prejudice and if you disagree you are ignorant.

No but seriously.

I’m prejudice.  I’ll be the first to admit it.  It isn’t gonna stop me from getting to know someone, though.  The worst kinds of prejudiced people are those who let their initial judgment prevent them from seeing the chivalrous knight underneath the troll costume.

..Whoa that was mean.

Anyway.  Whenever I see a kid with a backpack so large it seems to have misaligned his spine, unfitted jeans, tennis shoes apparently from the 1980’s, and a gaze that pierces the ground so relentlessly it cracks the concrete, I immediately pass him off for a nerd.

Now, firstly, don’t call me a hypocrite too soon.  This will not prevent me from getting to know him.  I may judge, but I try not to avoid because of it.

Unless they have like… devil horns or something… Yeah, I’d probably not associate with someone with devil horns.

But, secondly, I have an extremely nerdy side as well.  I think anyone can find something in common with anyone else – some similar ground at least.  Just because I dress like a douche-bag doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass in Dark Souls PvP.  Don’t know what that is?  It’s probably too nerdy for you.

I like when people break stereotypes.  When someone goes along with the predetermined “role” they feel they have been assigned to, it just fuels the fire of that prejudice.  And true, as I said, there will always be prejudice, but we can at least reduce it a little.

My friend Randy and I used to walk into Barnes and Noble after rock climbing.  We would be all pumped up and covered in chalk, wearing tight tanks and shorts, and we would get a coffee, find a table, and whip out the Hunger Games for an hour or so.

I wish I could’ve heard peoples’ thoughts on days like that.

“Whoa… Those guys can read?”

Because I think our generation was meant for more than the pre-assigned stereotypes of our parents.  We are fully capable of thinking for ourselves, or at least following those who are actually capable of it, and can make our own paths… or walk in the footprints of those who do. 

Hopefully the prints won’t be too deep by then.