Date a Nerd! 5 Reasons Why

This like was delivered by my mother, who as usual, is all intention and no delivery. What she was responding to was a scowl and scoff from Oprah. The show was about finding single guys, and the talk show host seemed displeased with the idea of dating a "nerd". The idea bothered my mother, as it did me. What's wrong with nerds? Heck, I'm a nerd! Somehow that Urkel image has been ingrained in the brains of women when the word "nerd" is heard on someone's lips. And when one finds out that a person plays World of Warcraft, or some other mmporpg (Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Game, for you lay people), a pale gollem with no life, living with their mother pops into your head. But I am here to dispel this rumor. I've dated the cute, jock, boy scout and I've dated a nerd. Guess which one I am still friends with today. Guess which one treated me better. Guess what kind of guys I will continue trying to date. That's right. NERDS!

And here's why:

1: They have a better sense of appreciation. When it comes right down to it, whether you are vain or not, you want your guy to tell you that you look nice, are smart, pretty, and funny. It's not egotistical. You just want to know that the effort you've put in has been noted and appreciated. I could hardly force the "boy scout", as we will call him, to understand this when, five months into our relationship, I could hardly force a "You look good" out of him. But the nerd understood, and I didn't even have to ask. When I was around him I felt wonderful about myself, and I know it was because he had the decency to take the time to notice my existence.

2: The nerds of today are the bosses of tomorrow. It's true that many "nerds" have career aspirations that will almost guarantee them a job, or they at least have skills that will help with a job. I mean, all those hours in front of the computer have to add up to something! As much as this English major hates to admit it, computers knowledge is one of the main skills employers look for today, not to mention and most jobs involving computers are the highest paid and the easiest to get. Now, not all "nerds" want to go into this field, true. The job interests range from nurse to novelist, but the one thing that they do all have is the intelligence to pursue and accomplish.

3. They have a sense of humor. I have never enjoyed myself as much as I have when I was around my "nerd" friends. They know how to tell stories and jokes, riff off of one another, mock and joke one another, and just be all around hilarious. Not one of them was ever the person who couldn't bring themselves to laugh or just didn't think that some joke was funny. They all had a deep appreciation of what a good time is, and knew how to spend it together.

4. They easy going, and they care. My then boyfriend once said to me "When we are having fun, I am the biggest jerk you know. But when something is wrong, no one could care more." This was an idea that I heard from almost everyone whom I would talk to: they would do anything for each other. There was no disagreement that could disrupt this, and the degree to which you were acquainted made no difference. If you were in trouble, they were there. And most of them didn't really get into disagreements. If they did, they understood the forgiving aspect of friendship. Most of them could look at a situation that may infuriate some more uptight person and take it in stride.

5. Once you make friends, you have friends for life. The nerds aren't the kind of people who see you for your status (i.e. So and so's girlfriend. This person's ex), they see you for yourself. Once my then boyfriend became my ex boyfriend, I was terrified. We were still going to be friends, and I knew that I could trust him for that, but I was so unsure of his friends. Would they still be accepting of my presence? Of course, they were. I was still the same person I had showed up as, and they liked me as myself, not has a girlfriend of their friend. I can honestly say that these former friends of my boyfriend are now some of my greatest and truest friends.

So, your probably wondering, if dating a nerd is so great, why did you two break up? Well, sometimes a person is just better as your friend than your lover. And sometimes one person, him, being 26 and the other, me, being 20 can make a relationship off balance. And I won't say that this applies to every nerd. There are always exceptions. But from the majority I've met, from one group to another, in city after city, this is usually the case. Maybe it's the stereotypes that go along with it that have formed this. Maybe it's just that being intelligent has created better philosophies on life. I'll tell you one thing, once I went nerd, I never went back, because I am currently dating another one from the same clan. And he has all of the qualities and more that I listed. Maybe it's just a nerd thing.