What Type of Geek Are You?

My husband and I are both geeks and we don’t shy away from that fact. We do geek things and we have geek friends. If you wish to classify us, I’m a book and anime/manga geek while my husband is a computer geek who also enjoys role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. I must say that a part of our security in our geekdom comes from the fact that we view ourselves as Self-Respecting Geeks. We enjoy our geekly pursuits in a way that doesn’t impose on others and generally don’t draw attention to ourselves. Many geeks lack this subtlety, and are unfortunately Raging Geeks. Let me give you a few examples to illustrate the difference:

The Self-Respecting Geek…watches the latest Star Wars movie at a matinee showing a few weeks after it comes out. He certainly wants to see it, but doesn’t feel any need to rush after hearing the lukewarm reviews.
The Raging Geek…attends the 12:01 a.m. showing on the day the movie is released dressed in Jedi Knight robes.

The Self-Respecting Geek…owns a t-shirt or two with a comic book character or Monty Python reference, but wears them under a button-up shirt in public.
The Raging Geek…wears Star Trek insignia pins on his trench coat.

The Self-Respecting Geek…preorders the latest Harry Potter book from Amazon.com so that it will arrive on her doorstep as soon as possible.
The Raging Geek…camps out at Barnes & Noble until 12:01 a.m. on the day of the book’s release, brandishing a “magic wand” and wearing black-rimmed glasses and a temporary lightning-scar tattoo.

The Self-Respecting Geek…creates a Dungeons and Dragons character, has fun playing a campaign, and leaves the story behind to go home.
The Raging Geek…signs all of his e-mails with the name of his character and also responds to that name in general conversation.

The Self-Respecting Geek…buys DVDs of her favorite anime series.
The Raging Geek…dresses up as Sailor Moon at an anime convention.

So which camp do you fall into? If you’re a Self-Respecting Geek, hold your head up high and take pride in your ability to play well with others. If you’re a Raging Geek, you might want to tone it down a little. I’m sure your friends and family love you just the way you are, but even they cringe when you put on the Sailor Moon skirt.