Warp Speed
Wednesday - January 06, 2010
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Del.icio.usEvery year for the past 15 or so years, a couple of my high school buddies and their families have gotten together during the holidays. It’s our way of staying connected and fulfilling a vision we all had in high school.
It was the year 1976, our senior year at Leilehua, and we were hanging out in Mr. Hirai’s science classroom. Yes, we were geeks, as was clearly evidenced by our mode of dress and the lack of any female presence. Still, we were pretty happy playing cards and talking about Star Trek.
One day we were discussing time travel and said that we would all someday be married to babes (we are) and all have kids. We made a pact that we would try to get together at least once a year with our families. Then we all laughed because it was too far-fetched.
Well, when we got together the other night for our annual gathering, we consciously realized that our vision had come true. The party was at our house and all our Christmas decorations were still up. I sat on the stairs, which overlook our living room.
All the kids - ranging from 21 years old down to 11- were posing in front of the Christmas tree for a group photo that we take every year. All the moms had their digital cameras out and were snapping away. The dads were reminiscing about the golden age of geekdom.
It suddenly dawned on me that back in 1976 we had totally predicted the future and, in fact, back then were decades ahead of our time. It especially hit home as we discussed the new Star Trek movie.
Seventies geek attire is now high fashion and everyone carries a Star Trek “communicator.” We watch television on big screens just like the one Captain Kirk had on the bridge. Playing cards is huge these days with the World Poker Tour and such.
The richest man in the world, Bill Gates, is a geek. All the guys in the movie The Hangover are geeks, and were just voted some of GQ‘s men of the year.
So I guess us Wahiawa boys didn’t do too badly. Too bad our kids can’t make the connection. To them, we’re just older geeks.
Ron’s WEBSITE of the week http://www.facebook.com/aku.bone.lounge
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