I'm almost offended

As a pale ginger kid, people naturally assume I'm a nerd.  Of course, they're right - I am quit a big hunk of geek, but in a lovable way.  I'm not cripplingly shy around women, I can be pleasant and happy, and I'm well-adjusted.  I do not get obsessive over video games (in fact, I don't really like them that much) and my Dungeons and Dragonsing is kept to a respectable level. 

I used to be a level 8 geek, but I've been level-drained of some geektitude, and have slipped down to a level 5 geek.  Although, my use of term "level" here actually just gave me enough XP to level up 6.  So, um, ding?

The moral of the story?  I'm a bit of a geek, but there are a lot of people who are a lot worse.  And I definitely do not "Dress like a geek" - I'm very much a jeans and a t-shirt sort of guy.  Dressed pretty much by old navy, with a healthy dose of plaid throw in for good measure.  I don't look at myself and instantly think "geek". People have to talk to me for a few minutes before they realize it.

Or so I thought.

So, last week I'm at the grocery store, picking up my latest dosage of healthier food.  I come up to the counter, and it's a cashier I've spoken to before - slightly overweight, a bit nervous around people, with a piercing and tattoo in an effort to look "cool" that has backfired miserably.  Actually, he kind of looks like the sidekick to the main character in pretty much any high school drama.

He looks at me, and with barely a pause, says "so, are you looking forward to Starcraft 2?"

(Starcraft 2 is, for those who are cooler than me and don't know, a sequel to a very well-known and popular computer game.  I've never played the game, but I know enough that I can say that, apparently, it's super addictive. Some korean kid actually played the original for three days straight, before dying from an aneurysm brought on through chronic sleep deprivation.  Crazy koreans.)

I look at the cashier blankly for a second.  He never said anything like this to the last person in line (a twenty-something male).  And it isn't like we meet outside of the groceries, to talk about video games or anything.  I see him maybe twice a month, for however long it takes for him to ring through my groceries.  If he remembers me from these meetings, I think it's time for me to shop elsewhere. 

Anyway, he looked at me, felt an instant kinship, and started going on about video games.  As if I were exuding some sort of "nerd" pheremone (which I'm told smells remarkably like B.O. mixed with cheezies).  Even when I told him I'm not much of a video gamer (I'm not), he decided to tell me some of the merits of this new game... and why I need to play it. 

Apparently, it's gonna be "wicked awesome". 

I smiled, thanked him, and paid for my groceries - all the while searching for an emergency exit.  "Make sure you check it out!" he told me as I ran out the store- I think he's a shareholder of the company, or something.

As I left, I turned to look back at him.  He was helping the next customer, a guy in his early thirties.  Nary a word was said between them - the guy in his thirties, apparently, lacked the pheremone.  Either that, or I had fulfilled the cashier's nerd bursting for the hour.