So let’s start the posting regularity again with a bit of an “oof”:
Geeks like to take things apart. Most of us got started at a young age, whereupon instead of actually enjoying the little toys that we got, we ripped them apart just to see how they worked. Some of you may have peeked inside your Transformers, others of you might have liked to check out your ViewFinder. I had an unfortunate occurrence involving an Etch-a-Sketch and my dad’s hammer. Don’t ask.
Anyway, it’s this piqued curiosity that leads us to greater pastures later on, whether it’s in the technology or gaming field. We learn to not only take things apart but put them back together…and eventually to take them apart again.
That’s why things like the keyboard discus competition above are both hilarious and interesting. When equipment can’t serve you any longer, there’s only one more purpose they can fulfill, and that’s the entertainment that only destroying it can bring. To be perfectly honest, when you see one of your friends cackling and steepling their fingers while they operate the crusher for cardboard boxes, you know they probably enjoy destroying their equipment too.
I think part of why geekery takes glee in destroying these things is mostly because they put a lot of work into maintaining and coddling them day after day. I suppose the years and years of work and effort gives them a bit of a right to let off some steam at the very end in a blaze of computer monitor and keyboard-smashing glory. Where some people might have an unhealthy attachment to their stuff, geeks don’t when it comes time to get rid of it. The speed at which tech moves these days, where the thing you bought today is old and busted tomorrow, makes it much, much easier.
Of course, don’t take my word for it – I’ll just show you the universally classic scene that conveys exactly how we feel about destroying geek things:
I can remember throwing a whole collection of 45's like frisbees from our front yard with my brothers. They really flew. Who knows what damage they did because they literally were flying over to the next block of houses. It sure was fun though.
I took my parents cable box apart trying to figure out how to pirate all the premium channels, and broke it. They never did know I did it. Hell, I didn't even know what to do I just opened it, and starting looking at the chips, and trying to figure out how you could trick it into showing everything.
I used to smash my hotwheels to see what a car would look like if it was involved in a crash.