Geek Factor=Happy Factor

Unlike Rider #1, I feel happiness comes from your geek factor. Perhaps the term geek factor is a little vague; let me clarify.

Tuesday night; I am sitting on the couch watching Dancing with the Stars as a favor to my wife. She hates watching it alone. As a good husband, I watch it with her; however, cognitively, I am in another world. “Artimis Fowl: He met Opal in the past--so why didn’t she recognize him? I know he has another book coming out, perhaps he explains it there. Anime is so much better than this. I am so glad Castle airs after this show. My wife looks so cute when she enjoys her shows. I wonder if she will like it when I get my Mythbuntu system set up so that she can record whatever she wants, or pause live TV to take care of the kids during the day. I bet I can even pipe it out to the garage; all it would take is drilling one hole-----WHAT!!!!!!! Did the host on Dancing with the Stars just tell that guy his wig looked like a TRIBBLE?!!?!?!?” That last comment drew a concerned look from my wife, which confused me until I realized I had said it out loud.

Asking her if she had heard what I said just caused more consternation. I thought she hadn’t heard me through my peals of laughter, but when I asked again after my fit of hysteria subsided I received the same response. She had NO idea what I was talking about and insisted I explain it on the next commercial break.

I reveled in the jumble of wonderful, useless, made-up facts that the word brought up in my mind. From Dr. McCoy: their purpose in life is to eat and give birth; they do both extremely well. Born pregnant. Ate all the grain. I postulated yet again how a creature of that design would affect a stoic biosphere such as a spaceship. I remembered that this creature made such a lasting impact that the new Star Trek movie released in the year 2009 featured a Tribble. I giggled to myself, still geeking out about it, drawing a “Shhhhh” from my wife.

The original Star Trek series epitomizes geekdom; it was the rise of the geek, and here it is being used as a reference on a show teeming with pop culture, the latest fashion, as well as a fan base that is mostly females which were born decades after this creature was introduced to the world by Gene Rodenberry. When I tried to explain this to my wife, she didn’t get it. I watched her expectantly, trying to contain my own bursts of mirth--all I got was “and...?” Realizing that I was one of about 100 people watching the show that got it just added to my revelry.

Tribbles are just one example out of many. Your amount of happiness you derive from such experiences, and how many you can have, depends on your geek factor. The geekier you are the more you see. The geekier you are the more humorous connections you make. Thus, happiness comes from being truly geeky and flaunting it, even in the unlikeliest places.