Do geeks make good boyfriends?

Because the internet is all expansive and all knowing, someone has already answered that question for me in a convenient, numbered fashion.

Many of the reasons are funny, and most make a lot of sense. Like number 6:

“[geeks] are quite good at remembering dates. Like birthdates and such, especially if they know it’ll make you happy. Due to their neglected status, they’re more attentive than guys who “have more options”. Plus, with all that down time without a steady girlfriend, they’ll likely have mental lists of all the things they’d love to do once they GOT a girlfriend.”

Having never dated a tried and true Geek before (although I did have a brief fling with someone who was a closet nerd…which wasn’t the reason we broke up…as far as he knew), I’m not the biggest expert on socially awkward people in relationships. However, the guy geeks I’ve been acquainted with over the years do tend to treat their girlfriends with an amazing amount of care.

And yes, like reason number 11, the cause for this amazing amount of care seems to stem from the fact that actually having a chick dig their nerdly ways is enough to make them ready and willing to do just about anything.

So tell us, DO geeks make better boyfriends? Or will they always make you second best to that hot pixilated babe in EverQuest?

I have never played Second Life, and had no idea what it was until a few months ago. Computer games aren’t my thing. They make me feel like I have anger issues, and I can’t stare at a screen for hours without going cross-eyed.

Plus, I’m not all that into living a giant lie.

But some people really dig it. They dig it so much that they spend hours and hours online, living life as an “avatar” and forming relationships with people they’ll never actually see. Like Ric Hoogestraat, a guy from Arizona who is so obsessed with his online life, he ignores his real wife for an animated one.

The Wall Street Journal (for once not being conservative and boring) recently ran an article about Ric and others like him, people so caught up in computer games that they prefer them to reality. Even though Ric insists that the women he married online is simply part of the game, his wife doesn’t like the situation one bit.

And I completely understand.

Now, I know people can become addicted to computer games like poker or drinking, but it’s hard for me to understand a dependence on animated fantasy. Is there true satisfaction in building a hot cartoon version of yourself and “acting” with a keyboard? And for the love of god, why would you spend actual money (in Second Life’s case) on cyber stuff? Buy yourself some social interaction classes, hire a hooker, just spend your cash on something real!

And as for a spouse or boyfriend having an online “relationship” while he’s dating me? Not just unacceptable, but plain old creepy.

The real world can be tough, I’ll admit to that, but locking yourself away in a room for 12 hours a day isn’t going to make your life any easier. In fact, I’m pretty sure it will make it much, much lonelier.

…and a lot more oddly pixilated.