I went to a local college last night where geeks such as myself gather together to play games. It had been a few months since I had been there and I managed to observe a few things.

1. Geeks do not go looking for the bathroom. They go on bathroom quest.

2. Geeks do not say "Hi" when greeting each other. They say "Greetings". I am not certain why this is, except that it might be some science fiction meeting aliens for the first time thing.

3. All official geeks have memorized the script to "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". Almost anything can trigger an attack of "Holy Grail" quotes. A person sent on soda quest will be required to return with sodas "And a shrubbery!"

4. If given the opportunity most geeks will gladly go into a 30 minute monologue about the time their 22 level paladin (who is really cool) killed the demon Asmodeous on the fifth plane of hell. The only polite way to break off a monologue of this sort is to announce pizza quest.

I act differently when I am around the geek crowd. I am more obnoxious than I normally am. I feel a greater need to seek group approval. And I am much less sure of myself. Basically, I start acting like an asocial fourteen year old nerd boy. Usually I act like an asocial fifteen year old nerd boy so the change is quite noticable.

I saw Bob there. Bob is Bob as in the "Get Bob" Bob. Bob is a very bright, reasonably nice looking fellow of about my age who can do all sorts of things with computers. Bob has a certain air about him that suggests he thinks can kick your ass in just about anything. Of course the irritating thing about is it that it happens to be true. Don't get me wrong. Bob is a nice guy who I like in a lot of ways. He most definately has that air about him though.

Well anyway, when I first met Bob many years ago he had a layoff-proof job in a big company at a decent salary. I remember a conversation at that time where Bob said that it was his experience that most people who own their own small businesses do so not because of any ability or ambition on their part, but because of their lack of ability to work with others. (Guess where this is going).

After working at the big company for about a decade, Bob decided to jump ship and join a small startup company at a much larger salary. He got married and bought a house. Then the economy crashed and he lost his job. Since this we all live in the middle of nowhere there are not a lot of jobs available for high salary computer geeks right now. So Bob has started his own consulting firm and does work with customers all over the country. It is in the startup phase so he's eeking by, but gradually building a customer base. When Bob told me this I politely listened and offered encouragement, then went on bathroom quest for a chuckle in the privacy of a toilet stall.

I also saw pizza delivery guy. Pizza delivery guy has been working at the same job deliverying pizza for the past twelve years. At one point they tried to promote him to manager but he didn't like it and went back to being pizza delivery guy. I am reasonably certain that pizza delivery guy has a higher I.Q. than I do. He has just has no ambition and likes to keep his life as stress free as possible. His job is something he does eight hours a day and does not have to think about when he goes home. As a single dude, he makes enough to pay the bills and set aside a little bit. And really what the hell else does he need?

I honestly can't say that I see anything wrong with the decisions pizza delivery guy has made with his life. He appears to be genuinely happy. However, a few years ago when I was having some employment difficulties, pizza delivery guy informed me that I am a "loser". In fact he made the shape of a "L" on his forehead and laughed at me. By a lot of people's standards his assessment may have been accurate. At the time I hadn't found work as a lawyer, was living at home with my parents, and had loads of debt. But it was a bit irksome. So now whenever I see him, I refer to him openly as 'pizza delivery guy' instead of by his real name, and politely inquire about things at the pizzeria.

Well anyway, we still get along and we were both really looking forward to the release of the computer game "Master of Orion III", which is an interstellar strategy game, kind of like 'Risk' only quite a bit more complicated with aliens and technology and stuff. So we talked a bit about how bad it turned out to be, and how it sucked to blow $50.00 on a piece of junk.

I had a fun time playing geek games (one win, one loss at 'Settlers of Catan', one loss at 'Chez Geek', and one win at 'Guillotine'). I got to discuss the world of geekdom and hang around with what I consider to be my true brotherhood, instead of the normal middle classed crew I deal with at work. Unlike pizza delivery guy, my work is hard to let go of at the end of the day, and it is nice to have a distraction now and then.