Neurotypical idiots

I fucking hate all of you for making me waste my time.

After graduating from university, I still was a virgin. Some of my ex-classmates I was kinda close with kept bugging me about my "distant, cold and aloof personality". They don't understand it's plain boring to spend your time with people who are majoring on computer engineering, yet still don't know how to install a Linux distro or make a basic IRC client in C. Because of this, interaction between us consisted of calling me whenever they wanted to play a multiplayer game or had a problem with their pirated software running on shitty hardware. Telling them outright to fuck off wasn't a good idea because university forces you to do group homework and making enemies is never a good idea, no matter where you are.

Now for the relevant part. Since we all grew out of university and went on with our lives, many of them followed the usual trend of getting a job, buying a car, finding a girlfriend and becoming utterly bitter faggots. One of my ex-classmates called me, said he's wondering how I've been doing and invited me over to his place. Trying not to be an asshole, I accepted his invitation and had a long conversation while we were having lunch. The lunch his girlfriend had prepared for all three of us.

Him: "How's life going for you?"
Me: "Got a job for a small company that works with embedded devices. Been writing some simple drivers and helping them with their Linux servers and stuff because they don't have any sysadmins yet. What about you?"
H: "Found a job at a company that makes software for other bigger companies. It's been pretty hard on me but I'm doing this for the both of us."
(starts staring at his girlfriend, she giggles and they kiss)
H: "I suppose you already found someone to give meaning to your life."
(first thought that comes to my head is that of my favorite Touhou, then I realize how gay he sounds)
M: "No, you know I'm not the kind of person to spend my time with others."
H: "Awww! Come on, aren't you a bit too old for that?"
(girlfriend agrees with a quick nod and a "Yeah, yeah")
H: I bet you still live alon- don't tell me you are still single!"
M: "Well, yeah. Time and money are virtually unlimited, there's nothing to complain about this lifestyle."
(girlfriend looks mildly offended)
H: "You wouldn't understand! You've never had someone to share your days with."
(Is that my fault? I consider myself an unintelligent dumbfuck and finding people who are mildly interesting is pretty fucking hard. Also, what kind of brainwashing have you been through? What's with those awfully cheesy sayings?)
M: "Of course not, I'm considerate enough not to bore other people to death with my endless ramblings about computers."
H: "Haha, don't say that, I'm pretty sure there's someone out there for you."
M: "I'm not trying to be mean, but I'm real fucking sick of that line. How many times have I told you I don't find permanent company enjoyable? Living alone and having all the time I want for myself is what I've always wanted ever since I was very young and I'm not giving it up after I've come this far."
H: "You're saying that because you're feeling lonely. Don't worry, it's not that uncommon to rationalize your situation, especially at your age. Believe me, you wouldn't want to go back to being single after you find someone you genuinely enjoy spending your time with."

Trying not to start a pointless argument at someone else's place, I laugh it off and propose we play something after we're done having lunch, on the excuse that "it's not that uncommon to become a little faggot at games, especially after you find a girlfriend". I was expecting his girlfriend to get mad and him to laugh, but instead they both laughed like monkeys. After finishing our lunch, I gave his girlfriend a honest compliment for her cooking skills, thanked both of them for the meal and went straight for his PS3. I spotted a brand new copy of some Call of Duty game,

M: "What about this one? Seems like neither of us have played this game before and it'd be nice to see if it really is catered for 12 year olds."
H: "Haha, yeah, I wouldn't play that game by myself, I bought it hoping I could play it with someone else."
M: "You haven't even peeled off the cover. Have you not played this with her?"
(you can read "shit, I totally forgot about her" on his face)
H: "Uh, she doesn't like that kind of games. (...) How about Little Big Planet?"
M: "Uh... okay."
("yay" in the background)

Thinking it would be a boring game for children, I was surprised after having some legitimate fun with it, though it's not my favorite kind of game and I was progressively getting bored. Seems like he was getting bored of it too, though his girlfriend was still brimming with enthusiasm. Which is funny because she was pretty bad at the game.

-- cont
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>>311
Not replying mails is considered rude by those who know their netiquette. That girl instead used e-mail as instant messaging, sending me short one-sided mails about her latest achievements. I'm not the kind of person to fill my speech with useless fluff, I didn't want to reply with a "Oh." and "speedcubing" is not my main interest. This is why I didn't reply to some of her tweetsmails.

That said, thank you for your suggestion. I'll try to reply all my mails from now on.

----

A government-funded "developer event" was being held at some random place that's at least two hours from where I live. There was a presentation about ENTREPRENEURSHIP with videogame development and another one about security flaws in devices for banking. It seemed interesting enough. I took my notebook and left for the place.

When I got there, the building was brimming with foreign looking men wearing business suits and "trendy" hipsters. The embodiment of Java and JavaScript respectively. The videogame conference started two hours after I got there, I used this time to have lunch and walk around the building. I always do this because I have an burning interest for traversing complex networks of hallways and stairs in unknown buildings. I paid about $10 for a piece of dry meat with two potatoes dipped in some sour sauce. It's all thanks to you, embodiments-of-Java.

The videogame conference started. The speaker was a female indie game developer that won a prize that had something to do with making the most downloaded APP in some overly specific category I can't remember. She was wearing a long leather coat, huge sunglasses and a beanie. The conference was about her experience with her "app" and how the local videogame market was exploitable and full of opportunities. Interesting, there is a way of getting moderately rich that doesn't involve wearing a business suit and drawing UML diagrams. At the end of her conference, a small group of Java monkeys and appers walked up to her. From what I could hear, some of them were trying to hire her and the rest insisted she should rewrite her game using the latest web technologies.

The other conference was about how some ATMs and most banking sites work exclusively on HTTP and the usual dangers of using HTTP. Such a misleading title, the conference was aimed for managers and not for programmers. I left the room after his talk finished and kept walking around. The speaker from the videogame conference was sitting alone, drinking a gigantic glass of orange juice.

Me: "Nice talk, it's nice to know independent game developers also have a chance. That gave me some hope."
Her: "I'm glad it worked. What's your name?"
M: "[REDACTED]."
H: "Nice to meet you, [REDACTED]. Do you work in the industry?"
M: "Not really, I work making programs for hardware-constrained platforms, though I enjoy making games for myself."
H: "First time I hear of that. Making games for yourself? What do you mean?"
M: "Oh, nothing special, all of them are 2D or text-based games I made after finding a game with a concept I liked but with mechanics I didn't like."
H: "What language did you use for that?"
M: "C, which is what I'm most comfortable with."
H: "That's impressive."
M: "Not really, they still have some bugs."
H: "Every application is bound to have some bugs. My game also had some critical bugs that many customers spotted one day immediately after the final release."
M: "What did you do about that?"
H: "Suck it up and submit a patch as soon as possible. I had to pull an all-nighter."
M: "Damn, that sounds rough."
H: "Things happen."

At some point in the middle of this conversation, I asked her where she got that juice. She told me the event staff was giving it for free to all registered attendants. We continued the conversation while we were walking to the juice stall.

H: "Do you have any public repository where I can see these games of yours?"
M: "Are you sure? They're not the kind of games most people would enjoy."
H: "Yes, experimenting with new mechanics and getting new ideas is part of what I do."
M: "Alright, give me your mail address and I'll give you read access. Let me know if you need any help building or running the games, they only work on Linux."
H: "Do you think they'll run on OS X?"
M: "I've never tried."
H: "Then I'll get someone else to help me with that. There's someone I'm meeting in a few minutes, bye."
M: "Okay, have a nice day."

I plugged my notebook to a dangling Ethernet cable and played Counter-Strike. It got dark before I could notice.

H: "Interesting game. The mechanics are deep and the complexity is intriguing."
M: "Hello again. I like this game but I wouldn't call it deep by any means-"
H: "I'm talking about one of your games."
M: "Oh, I thought you were talking about Counter-Strike. Really? Which one? Did you run into any problems while compiling it?"
H: "The real-time strategy game. Someone had an Ubuntu virtual machine ready. I used that and followed the instructions."
M: "Glad to know."
H: "Mind if I give you some suggestions?"
M: "Please do."
H: "First, there are many actions that take more keypresses than necessary, like making building plans or grouping soldiers into troops."
H: "Also, the pathfinding is sloppy and the economy is prone to sudden hyperinflation. Other than that, really interesting. I believe you can target a very specific population and make your game popular if you fix these issues."
(this girl knows what she's talking about)
M: "Thank you for all your suggestions, I'll keep them in mind."
H: "I'll be more specific if you want."
M: "Please."

I turned off my notebook and went with her to the cafeteria. She corrected many other design flaws and gave me additional advice.

M: "Thank you for everything. I'm sorry for wasting your time like this."
H: "No problem."
M: "At least let me treat you to something."
H: "I'd like a pale lager."

I bought that and a bottle of water. My wallet was sad. We spent the rest of the evening talking about our lives.

When it was time to leave, we both went to the parking lot.

H: "Where's your car?"
M: "I don't have one."
H: "Really?"
M: "Yeah."
H: "I'll give you a ride."

Hold it. She just had some beer. Isn't that a problem?

M: "I'd appreciate it, but..."
H: "What?"
M: "Didn't you just have a huge glass of beer?"
H: "It's alright, I do this all the time. Get in the car."
M: "No, wait, what if something happens?"
(I don't feel safe with a slightly intoxicated driver but I don't want to take that bus again)
H: "Then what do you propose we do?"
M: "Feel free to call me an idiot for proposing this. I didn't drink anything, is it okay if I drive? You must be tired and you shouldn't be doing this after helping me out."
H: "Okay."
(she agreed just like that? She must hate driving.)
M: "Alright then."

A brand-new 2.0L Volkswagen Jetta GLI with automatic transmission. What the fuck, this car is like $40K. It's the fastest car I've ever driven, I had to ease off the gas pedal when I saw we were going almost at 140km/h. We got to the city in less than 90 minutes.

M: "Nice car you've got here."
H: "Oh, I like my SUV better."
M: "Is that so..."
(holy shit is this girl rich)

She said I could drive the car to my place and then she'd leave from there. I refused, instead I took her home and I took a bus from there to my place. She lived in a wealthy neighborhood in the outskirts of the city. I believe I came here with Alice in the Mazda 6.

M: "Thank you for everything."
H: "No problem. I'll play some more and message you if I notice anything."
M: "I appreciate it. Take care."
H: "Good night."

My day wasn't wasted.

-- cont
_{See you tomorrow}