Gifts for Geeks

Currently Reading: The Stupidest Angel by Christopher Moore

So, you've done most of your Christmas shopping but you've still got a few people left to buy for. Worse, at least ONE person left on the list is a geek. What on EARTH do you buy a geek for Christmas without breaking the bank? Well, here's a hint:

You may think I'm kidding but, seriously, giving the gift of soap will not only allow you to cross that person's name off your list, it'll ALSO make the world a better place.

True story here. This afternoon I stopped off at a comic book store on the way home from work. You see, Marvel has been running a special Captain America series that I've been reading and today was the release of number 5 of 6.

So I grab a copy of that and then, because I had the time, I was just browsing the rest of the rack. Wednesday is the day that new comics are released in general, at least for Marvel, so the store is usually fairly crowded.

I'd spotted something that looked interesting on one of the bottom racks so I knelt down to have a look. As I'm flipping through the pages to check the quality of the artwork and to see if it's filled with ads, a geek passes by behind me. Then another, and another. At one point, an uber-geek stands next to me, reading a comic from the TOP rack (I hate it when people are too cheap to buy a comic and just stand there and read). Anyway, I'm checking out a few other issues when all the hair in my nose curls up and screams in agony and the only thing I can think of is "Dear GOD what is that smell?!"

I manage to wiggle away from the rack (more geeks had taken root to read) and again and again my poor nose is assaulted by this violent REEK coming from these guys.

Now, it's not like they were homeless or anything. They all had shoulder bags, weighted down with their laptops. Several had jawbone-style bluetooth headsets on and those aren't exactly cheap either. These guys had money (though they were too cheap to buy a comic -- how lame).

And yet . . .

SO, if you have a geek on your list and this problem sounds very familiar to you, consider investing in a lovely gift basket of shower gels or bath soaps. Let's try and drop a few hints here on the guys who seem to think it's appropriate to go a week or two or three without showering. Now, I will grant you that coming fresh from work, I often carry along a slight hint of wet dog. But I generally don't go wandering out in public smelling like that and if I DO, I don't stay out long. If people want to smell wet dog, they can visit me at work.