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Nerdxhaustion

August 6th, 2010 by the_lifer

Five days after his vacation, Will is drained. An IT programmer and an introvert, he longs for the days, three short years ago, when being a nerd meant you didn’t have to be that social. You had your best mate and your girl and your computer, and Hell Pizza delivery, and life was good. He had hoped he’d left a certain need to network behind in London. But a nameless global trend has reached Wellington’s wind-churned shores at last, and Will hasn’t spent an evening at home this week.

Monday was Nerdnite. Tuesday was Ignite. Wednesday was an open-source software user’s group. Thursday is Science Express at Te Papa, on something he’s really interested in. He has run into co-workers at all these evenings.

Will goes out of free-floating anxiety around getting re-established in this town, where connections mean so much. Living walking distance from downtown, he feels he doesn’t have an excuse to not go. Also, he’s afraid he’ll miss something, because he sees all the bright young things from where he works out and about at these evenings.

It hasn’t occurred to him that the young nerds, the ones fresh out of uni, go because it’s cheaper than having to turn on the electric heaters in their uninsulated flats.

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