So the young geek grows up and enters middle school… Ah, yes, middle school.  Talking to girls was a bit “scary.”  What do you say?  What happens next?  It was easier to just ignore the conflict.  So for me while I held a torch or two during those years I never really spoke to any of the young ladies.  I’d guess afraid of rejection (like most geeks) or just beaten down over the years (self esteem was not something parents tended to build up in those days).  I just remember finally getting up the nerve to actually give a girl a card (with a gift certificate to the place I worked) at the end of the school year.  So what happened next?  Not much, if the gift certificate was redeemed it was done so when I was not working, and the girl was going to the other high school so I never saw her again. Lesson learned- you might actually need to have a conversation to learn something about someone… go figure!  Who knew?  Next time- High school & parents.