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A lot of people have asked about my Tweet earlier that I had to call the police on an on-duty Metro employee, so I figure it’s just easier to post here.

About two years ago, I found a phone on the Metro, a $400 Treo Pro. I called the number marked “Home” on it, told the very grateful person that I had found it and that I was leaving it with the station manager.

When I tried to turn it in, I made the mistake of mentioning that I had called the person, at which point of time, she told me it was my problem, since I had broken Metro protocol by telling the person I had found the phone. I assume, given my experience before and since with Metro, that makes it harder for some Metro employee to “keep” the phone. Mind you, this was in the first two weeks of the “‘Scuse me, is thaaat your baaag?” announcements.

So I asked her what would be the protocol if I hadn’t mentioned that I had called the person. She accused of us of lying, etc. I had had enough of this BS, so I started to leave the phone on her desk. She picked it up and HURLED at me, striking me on chest. I had had enough. I called the Fairfax County Police, who told me to call Metro Police, the latter being useless scumbags.

Long story short, the woman ran off before the police came – at 6pm for “lunch” – and then when she got back, basically lied through her teeth with the help of her subordinate, making up a bullshit story about my lying to her about calling the person and then claiming that I hadn’t. (Remember, I said, “What would you’ve done had I not said I had called the owner?” – a hypothetical question). Eventually John Catoe showed up along with the line manager for the Orange Line, took the phone, and Metro Police essentially forced me to leave mid-conversation by shoving me out of the station. I took the station manager’s name, filed a complaint in writing, nothing ever came of it, of course. I’ve seen her since at “work” so I assume fully that she was either commended for her “honesty” or she got a free phone out of my efforts.

And of course, they continue to announce that if I see someone leave something behind, I should tell a Metro employee. I don’t any longer. If one day one of those phones is hooked up to a bomb, I hope that they name it after the station manager that taught me never to help Metro make itself safer. Also, that weekend, I got my US driver’s licence. So that I never again have to go on the Metro if I don’t want to.

I was visiting an office colleague today while our highly competent IT team was trying to ascertain just what was wrong with my computer. For the first time, said office colleague’s office mate was there and since work had come to a stand still thanks to my dead computer, I sat down to talk for a while. One comment led to another and I stopped for a second to consider the math of one of the statements. (I believe it was about the carbon capacity of the ocean and I thought about what was the fastest way to measure the liters of water in the ocean).

I remarked that I had to stop to think about this. The office mate said something to the effect of “Wow what a nerd you are” to which I happily told her the story of my college’s unofficial motto: “Where fun comes to die”. Upon which I was asked in disbelief, “Why are you admitting this?”

Why indeed. Consider: I read sci-fi, I play video games, I listen to opera and techno, I can out pun all but one person that I know, I devour knowledge, but most of all, I understand technology in a way few people do. Most people think an internal combustion engine or a computer or why the sky is blue are magic; I know enough to explain the mechanism to someone else. I’m decently good at math and I grok a fair amount of physics, economics and a few other fields to not be so that I am not confused when people far ahead of me try to teach me a thing or two. And I am not afraid to ask questions.

I pride myself for knowing more than most people. And I enjoy verbal swordplay and banter. And I enjoy intellectual discourse. And challenging mental problems. And reading. The pursuit of more knowledge is the single greatest joy of being alive.

So you know what? I am a nerd/dork/geek and proud of it.

If you are too, take the word back. It’s about our quest for information. Not their label for something they don’t understand. Not their label for those of us who revel in the quest for more.

Edit 1: And one more thing – I list the stuff above not because it makes me a genius, but because it tells you a little bit about my quest for knowledge. More information about a lot of things is infinitely preferable to more information about a few things. These are just some of the “nerdy”/”dorky”/”geeky” fields I look for information about – and from there, learn to tell others about. If that makes me a nerd/dork/geek, I am proud to be one.