Thinking Out Loud
4th Down and Goal

February 1, 2015
By: Diane Szczepanski

So you're a little weird? Work it! A little different? OWN it! Better to be a nerd than one of the herd!
Mandy Hale

I am a nerd.

I have always been a nerd and I have always been conscious of the fact that I hear a different drummer.

If truth be told, I hear a flute, not a drum.

This being said, there are times I really do try and conform to the norm. Super Bowl Sunday was one of those times.

I agonized over my wish to be with my enthusiastic football-loving friends, eating wings and drinking beer with abandon, all thoughts of the Monday morning work day to come tucked far back into the recesses of the common sense region of my brain.

To fit in with the game day revelry of others wearing team colors and shouting at the television in unabashed abandon at every missed call play.

But, to "fit in" came at the direct expense of my desire to finish a book I was reading and the movies I wanted to catch on Netflix.

The dilemma of my two selves became heated at one point: "To be a Super Bowler or not to be a Super Bowler. That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the Slings and Arrows of outrageous lack of participation or take Arms against a Sea of draft beer headache and over-snacking stomach discomfort on the morrow..."

That's when I realized I was not only a nerd, but a major geek.

And I did what any good intentioned, but non-conforming and slightly dramatic geek would do. I showered, donned cleaned mismatched pajamas and gave myself permission to miss the hoopla of Super Bowl Sunday and watch movies instead.

Being nerdy has it's advantages, watching marathon movies of Johnny Depp being just one of them.