I think the whole “geek” or “nerd” thing is sort of non-existent nowadays to be honest.

Everyone has some sort of “nerdish” quality about them (who doesn’t like star wars/trek/Firefly/Big bang Theory, Twilight (gag) etc., or some sort of sci-fi?)

Who would ever think that a Garbage truck, err sorry Sanitation engineer operator, would be a huge Big bang theory, or Star trek fan, yet, I know 3 that fit that description perfectly.

If you have to say you are cool, then in my opinion, really you aren’t.

It’s the same as the people who say “I am tough”. No, if you have to say it, you aren’t.

You said something that struck me,

“”For me back in the day, if the sports jocks (a sort of geek in their own right, I suppose) started being Science fiction, computer, or role playing geeks, I would have been both angry and terrified. These were the very people who directly or indirectly hurt me for so long, through exclusion, perceived slights and insults, and outright bullying.””

Now I never considered myself a jock, but I was on ‘All star-teams’ for baseball, played Rugby, competed in Powerlifting, and did Martial Arts for years. But during that same time I was also DM, played Zork, Atari and I really miss the RPG Shadowrun.

I think everyone now is just a Hybrid of something else. Geeks are Cool, and Cool people can be Geeky.

Now this is just my opinion, on what is cool, tough, nerdy, and geeky. But after all, I am a tough, cool guy, so I must know, right? 😉