All Brands of Nerdiness

Post Written By James Dixon

It takes all kinds to make the world. I learned that a lot in Germany, and I'm still learning that here in Utah. I also found out that the more people you get to be around, the more likely you are to see and understand that. Singing in institute choir has provided one such opportunity. As soon as it was publicized that we were going to be singing in General Conference, the flood gates opened, and everyone and their dog came out to rehearse.

I remember one such rehearsal where all the choirs in the valley meet together at one time. We had around 400 people in that rehearsal, so it was very warm, noisy, and everyone was getting a little impatient. While the director was working with the women in the choir, I took the opportunity to stretch and survey my fellow tenors. Sitting directly behind me was a tenor who looked like he could be fresh out of high school. He was very intently working on a project, and after some careful observation, I could see he was working on a cross-stitch. But this wasn't any cross-stitch. This was a cross-stitch of a Pokemon. I started jumping to conclusions about the level of nerdiness that this kid, now in college, must be at. I then reassured myself that maybe he was making it for a younger brother, and thought, "gosh, what a nice guy." Then he looked up at me with his bottle rim glasses and gave me a smile that will go down in the annals of my memory for time and all eternity as one of the nerdiest smiles I think I've ever gotten. There was no longer any need to jump to conclusions. The cross-stitch was for him, and only him. I smiled back, trying to suppress a laugh, and then turned around and tried to laugh as silently and with as little movement as possible. Have you ever tried to do that? It's painful. But you know, probably the most painful and frightening part of the experience is, for a split second right when I saw his cross-stitch, the name of the specific Pokemon he was needling came flashing into mind. I thought "Hey, that's a Vulpix."

I learned that it really does take all kinds to make the world. But be careful what you think or say... you might just be one of them.