Nerds

So after I wrote what I did about the two nerds I met at the concert, I felt a little badly about it. I mean, what if one (or both) of them found my interpretation of their stories?

I was careful. I changed some of the details. The actual thing that "llama picture" guy wanted TMBG to sign wasn't a llama picture, but something else with similar scansion. I also didn't include enough information in the post for anyone to google, say, the concert location and date and find themselves reading my blog.

The more I think about it--particularly the Apartment 4 guy, whose song title I didn't change because it would take away the meaning of what he was trying to say to me--the more I think how brave he was to go up to a stranger and tell her that his favorite song was this one about a person who doesn't have any friends and wants another person to be his friend, because it was exactly like his life.

I used to be brave like that when I was nerdier. During my first year of grad school I wrote this guy unsolicited love letters and slipped them underneath his door. (That is a longer story for another time.) At the same time, though, it's a combination of bravery and blindness; the belief that the truth will literally "set you free" without realizing that your own uncomfortable honesty--writing a letter and slipping it under a door, or telling a stranger that you wish you had a friend--is getting in the way of what you actually want.

What is it about nerds that cause us to do things like this?

(And if the Apartment 4 guy or the llama guy ever find this blog, email me. ^__^)