Hi! My name is...

This may come as a shock to you, but I am something of a dork. A nerd. A geek. If you need an example to underscore my point, well, I am composing this post on an Android platform phone while sitting in a public place. Oh, and I just recognized a near-stranger after 5 years, not because he is remarkable in appearance (although a man with flaming red hair extending to his waist is remarkable), but because the sight of him made me remember his dice bag which made me remember who he is.

That's a true story.


So, geek. And recently I have been working to overcome my natural fear of people by participating in more local events with the local Twitterati, as well as doing social media work for a well-known and beloved client. So, more visible, more interactive, and more... well, just more. I am not an extrovert, contrary to what my friends might say. I'm so very much an introvert; it's a lot of work for me to be highly social, and kind of exhausting. Further, I'm kind of afraid of you. Maybe not you, specifically, but you, in general. Especially if I like you and/or respect you. One of my BFFs jokes that along with one of the other BFFs, between us we might have the self-esteem of one normal person. Anyway, so: going places and doing things, that's me. Go, me!

I had an idea: Most of the people in the places where I am doing things, they are kind of geeky in the ways that I am geeky, so doing something geeknerdy would probably be accepted! Not weird! Woo!

Heading into a social event where I wouldn't know EVERYone, I printed a QR code on a label and I affixed it as a name tag. Customary name tag position. At least, I think it was? If you were asked to use an adhesive name tag, where would you put it? Upper left chest, for me.

Nobody scanned me.

So I tried again, next event. Still, nobody scanned me. I witnessed a horrified face or two when I suggested it. NO CAN POINT CAMERA AT YOUR BOOBISH REGION. Then I wore it one more time, at this point just because I'm ornery, and I got the same (lack of) result.

The resulting data from my accidental social experiment indicates that it's socially acceptable to look at the chesticle area to read a name tag, but it's not okay use your phone cam to scan one. Even if that's the obviously intended invitation. Why do you think that is?

Curiouser.