Is There A Geek Behind The Leader?

Barry Buchanan is a satirist and cartoonist. His artistic expressions draw a smile to my face, however his observations are his strength. I think satire is the bridge between reality and the theatrical. There are humorous moments in our daily vignettes as can be read in the cynical comic strip, Dilbert.

I admit I am an ignoramus when it comes to techie things – writing this phrase is a dead giveaway about my technological incompetence. It took a long while before I could put my bike together on away-races. I was motivated to do it myself after my powers of influence and favours ran out. Talk about what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger (or skillful)!

I am a geek, and so are you. When you consider the profundity of your knowledge within the ambit of your hobby and pastime, you are a geek! We are experts in our leisurely pursuits, for we chase after it. When we start speaking in the tongue of a technophile, we are expressing our brighter side. Who isn’t fascinated with talking about their passions? If you are passionate about your profession and are knowledgeable about it, you are a geek.

A geek is an enthusiast. If you enjoy working with customers, you are a geek. If you enjoy bicycles (and are into bike porn), you are a geek. Ozzie Osbourne bit off the head of a bat (by accident?) during a 'live' performance, so he is a geek (in the carnival sense). If you are familiar with geeks and all things geeky, you are indeed a geek!

Geeks spend hours on their hobbies; does that make work a hobby? Are we suckers for punishment? Sounds like a masochist’s slogan. I still hear cries of dismay when I announce to my colleagues that I’ll be doing yet another Ironman race; my family has resigned (and redesigned) itself to the fact that it is part of my neurosis. I am a neurotic with my abundant share of idiosyncracies and idiotic behavior. Within the triathlon community, I feel normal. Among the blind the one-eyed is king. Hey! I was influenced by idiots!  And I graduated with first-class honours for being an idiot – I just don’t know when to stop (or at least, I pretend I don’t).

Want to track your triathlon races worldwide? Go to AthLinks. It has your race records and history for you to claim. Quite a few fellow bloggers are already on its free membership.

Endurance sports are hard things. Mastering an instrument is a hard thing. Doing my chores is a harder thing. When was the last time you attempted hard things? Michael Ray Hopkin (incidentally, a 3:30 marathoner) blogged about doing hard things and the relevance of supporters, and I actually set my marathon PB as a result of our conversation.

Are you a geek or meek? I suppose that we have a bit of both in our composition. Who shall inherit the earth?


Illustration of DontFeedTheGeek.com by: Krishna Sadasivam the cartoonist behind the excellent www.pcweenies.com