Last night as I was driving kids home from play practice--
Boy 1: You know what I love about being a nerd?
Boy 2: What?
Boy 1: You can get really excited about stuff. You don't have to be like "eh, that's cool," even if you love something and want to do it all the time.
Me: What's the opposite of nerd, would you say?
Boy 1: Super jock, maybe?
Me: But lots of you nerds play sports and are pretty good at them.
Boy 2: It's definitely not jock.
Boy 1: I know--hipsters. Hipsters are the opposite of nerds.
Me: Hm . . . what about all those hipsters in bands and art school?
[Thoughtful pause]
Girl: I'm not sure if I'm a nerd. I think I might be more in the middle.
Boy 1: I think you're in the middle but leaning toward nerd.
Boy 2: Yeah.
Girl [pleased]: Yeah.
Me: And the great thing is, being a nerd only gets better. Probably high school is the low point, really. [pause] No, maybe middle school.
Boy 1 [firmly]: Yes.
[Thoughtful pause]
Boy 2: I don't know. Middle school was fine. I think I was only just starting to discover my inner nerd then.
2 comments:
Kudos to your carful! I wasn't nearly as articulate nor as comfortable with my nerdyness at that age.
Nerds have been getting trendier and trendier since Big Bang Theory...
Exhibit A: I have 24 students on my academic quiz bowl team. Twenty years ago, I could fit the entire team in my car. Our high school has about 120 students. Therefore, 20% of the high school student body is on the
Academic Team.
Go figure. =)
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