Letting my geek flag fly

I was at a bus station yesterday morning and a fellow at the ticket counter was wearing a Jayne hat. (Non-geeks can find an explanation here. In brief, it’s a hat from the show Firefly, and it’s ugly enough only a fan would wear it.)

I’m normally really socially awkward–you may decide after reading this that I’m just hopelessly socially awkward–but right when he was on his way out of the room I screwed up the courage to call out, “Hey, is that the hero of Canton?”

The guy in the hat smiled SO BIG and called back, “Hell, yes, it is!” We waved at each other and off he went.

I was so jazzed by the geek moment that I didn’t even care that people were staring.

Plus, you know, I was wearing my Tom Baker Fourth Doctor scarf. Social conventions don’t apply in that scarf.

Do I have any deep moral message to this story? Not really, unless it is that with all the labelling we do of ourselves and others, maybe we overestimate the importance of being easily understood. We’ll contort ourselves into categories and labels that itch like an ill-fitting sweater rather than rock the boat and risk rejection.

Maybe it’s better to be who we are, like the guy in the Jayne hat, and accept that we will be misunderstood by many.

If you’re lucky, you might get the chance to explain to some confused person why you do what you do. You might get to share your excitement over a cool TV show or a hobby.

Or you might get to share something truly important—you may get a chance to “give reason for the hope that you have.”

Now who is going to harm you if you are enthusiastic for what is good?
But even if you should suffer because of righteousness, blessed are you. Do not be afraid or terrified with fear of them, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who defame your good conduct in Christ may themselves be put to shame.
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil.

I called this post, “Let your geek flag fly,” not entirely sure where I was going with retelling the simple little story of my bus station encounter.

I don’t know that I have a conclusion, except that I’m glad I was able to make someone else smile for such a small cost as a moment’s public embarrassment. I’m glad to have escaped the self-consciousness of my 20s that would have made such a moment unlikely. And I hope I have the integrity to wear my values as publicly as I do my fandoms, ready to suffer embarrassment and more than embarrassment for doing good, if it be the will of God.