So today I was driving home down California Avenue in Chicago. Suddenly I see a slew of dark-clothed, ponytailed, geeky-looking people streaming north. Dozens of them walking in clumps. Army coats, corduroys, and nice facial hair. Almost all of them are men. They look like extras out of Clerks.
My mind is racing. Is there a war protest I didn’t hear about? A Dungeons & Dragons Walk-A-Thon? Is there a Linux convention in town? As I approach the intersection at Belmont, I see the doors of Michelle’s Ballroom are burst open and the last of the concave-chested ones are straggling out.
Then it hit me: this tribe of like-looking people are the entire staff of Midway Games, the HQ of which is located two blocks north at Roscoe. They must have rented out Michelle’s for an all-hands-on-deck company meeting.
Just as quickly, it occurred to me: every geek in America who wants to be a game software developer would have like to have seen a bomb hit Michelle’s Ballroom about 10 minutes ago.