On Geekery and It Getting Better

  Watching a talk show about bullying got me thinking about my childhood and my hope's for The Peanut's childhood. (The fact that I just admitted to watching a daytime talk show is a completely different story)



  I was a minority in my elementary school. The only white girl in my sixth grade class and one of maybe 15 or so white kids in the entire sixth grade. It never really bothered me, because it just seemed normal. But being a kind of geeky white girl did get me teased.  A lot. It didn't help that I didn't listen to the same music or wear the same clothes as most of my classmates. The year did get better. I made friends with a few girls in my class, but I was always on edge that the girls were making fun of me behind my back.
  Then we moved to a new school district for middle school and I thought it would be my chance to be a cool kid. It became pretty clear to me very early in my middle school adventure I was not meant to be a cool kid. They were kind of awful.  Soon I found my people.  Then I ended up joining the drill team. 80 kids and I was the the only white one. It was a lot of fun. The only time my color was an issue was when we met up with drill teams from other schools. In general, the guys and gals of my drill team excepted the fact that I was in on the team, didn't like rap, and was generally pretty "white"
  High school was great, but I wasn't cool. I joined the color guard, hung out with band geeks, the drama and speech people. I'm not going to lie and say I didn't secretly want to be popular. But I got over it.
  After graduating I ended up going to the Rocky Horror Picture Show and making friends with an extremely odd, although sweet group of people. Pretty much the drama geeks all grown up. They excepted me as I was. Honestly, it was pretty fucking awesome. (Also, I met the man that would become my husband. But that, too, is another story) I started playing Role Playing Games and was led down a path that has made me the proud geek I am today.
  So what's this ramble about? My hopes for The Peanut. Part of me really wants her to be into the geeky things her Daddy and I like. She already likes anime, has been to 2 conventions, knows Doctor Who, and has her own dice set.  On the other hand, being a geek isn't easy. Especially growing up. Kids are cruel. I guess I just want her to be happy with who ever she becomes and will always be kind to everyone, no matter what group they join.