I am a nerd. No question. Here, just take a look at one wall of my apartment:
Movie posters for days. This is just one wall…
It is so clear that I am a nerd. Do these things do anything besides collect dust really well for my dust collection? No, not really. Do they cost me an arm and a leg (I may or may not have a sold a kidney. I’m told I only need one)? Yes, being a nerd is tremendously expensive. I dump money into awesome paraphernalia so I can sit on the couch and think about how awesome I am for having awesome paraphernalia (Awesome. One more time for good measure. Makes me feel better). The only other time it pays off: friends who also like such money wasting items who do not have them. I get to gloat and wave my hand around like I am turning letters in Wheel of Fortune.
Yea I got a bit more than Legos
I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who look at these things in the store and say, “Man, who would buy this stuff?” or “What a waste of money.” or “You don’t have space for that!” (Last one is the only thing that actually stops me. When I get my own house…). The best way for me to describe this desire for these lovely mantle pieces is like making a sandwich. One could make a very simple sandwich: bread and meat. Tada! Sandwich! Most people want a nice sandwich though, meaning that there is the addition of lettuce, tomato, avocado (Making a fancy sandwich? Yea, you want avocado), and some condiments like Dijon mustard. To get these additions, it costs a little bit more but you are also more satisfied. So I could buy a video game with no bells and whistles…OR, I can throw down some extra cash and get an awesome statue or an American flag with an assassin’s symbol on it to proudly hang on a wall.
I really do love these random things that litter my living space. It shows off who I am and what I think is cool or interesting. When I would bring friends over to my house who haven’t been there before, I would give them a tour of my room just to show them all the cool stuff (I’m like Willy Wonka but replace the candy with toys and such. No one turns into a blueberry. Yet…). Everything that they see has some kind of story of how I got it or why I wanted it (a looking glass into the mind of Jon. Oooooooo.). On a different side, I like to see the smile and awe on their faces. Because of these random toys and gadgets, I brought someone happiness, even if it is for a little bit (Helps to have nerd friends too). In the world we live in, we have to find times in our busy fifty hour work weeks to have fun. Fun for me is spending hours playing Magic the Gathering or talking about the deep story of Bioshock Infinite.
Yea, being a nerd is expensive. Worth it? Worth it.
Reasons I Am Broke 