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Geek love: Two-techie couples make it work
When nerds collide, true love can be twice as nice
By Tracy Mayor
Senior Features Editor, Computerworld |
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Donna and Roy
Donna Richardson, 37, service desk supervisor
Roy Richardson, 43, SAP Basis administrator
[The Richardsons declined to say where they work.]
Hometown: Greenwood, S.C.
Years together: eight
Donna and Roy Richardson
How they met
Roy: Donna and I met at work. She was on the company's outsourced help desk, and I was a system administrator for my company's Windows environment.
I was loosely in charge of the help desk as well, so when it came time for a huge PC replacement project, I was placed in charge as the project manager. Donna was assigned to the project to assist me.
We fought like crazy. She didn't like my approach, and I was not happy with hers. Ultimately the project was completed successfully, but it's still true that we don't work well together on tech projects. On other projects, such as our kids, we do pretty well.
The best thing about a being in a two-nerd relationship is...
Donna: Being able to understand each other's work stresses and sharing our excitement over new gadgets.
Roy: Having somebody who can relate to what you're going through. Some days you just have a horrible day, and it's great to have someone who knows what you're dealing with at work, who can say "I know what you mean" and really mean it.
And the most challenging part is...
Donna: Getting in each other's way when something needs to be fixed. He does it his way, and I want him to let me do it my way, even if that is not the way he would recommend. And Christmas and other gift-giving occasions can get expensive when you both like electronics.
Roy: We both have a lust for whatever the latest and greatest tech is. But we've got four kids between us, and one of those is in college, so in this economy, the gadgets have to wait.
Advice for others looking for geek love
Donna: Be true to yourself. If you do what you enjoy and be honest with yourself, love will fall in your lap.
Deborah and Jeff
Deborah Young, 49, administrative assistant, Oncology and Hematology Dept., Cayuga Medical Center
Jeff Young, 41, IT manager for Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County, N.Y.
Hometown: Ithaca, N.Y.
Years together: 10
Deborah and Jeff Young
Deborah: I had a new job as the administrative assistant for the IT department at an architecture and engineering firm in Albany. I had been there a week with no computer.
I'd finally had enough and went downstairs to ask the receptionist who I had to see about getting a computer. She told me "Jeff Young," and pointed down the hallway. I walked into his office and there was Jeff, leaning back with his hands behind his head, listening to music.
For the life of me I still don't understand why I did it, but I sashayed around him, sat on top of his desk and said, "What does a girl have to do to get a computer around here?" He looked at me, shocked, and said, "You're not from around here, are you? Are you from down south?" And I said, "Yes I am." And he said, "Then a jug of sweet tea." He got his tea, and I got the computer the next day. That's how it started.
Jeff: We're both very level-headed and like-minded. We can talk things through analytically and not hold a grudge.
Jeff: With two technical-minded people, you're both going to have strong opinions about the right way to do things -- home decorating, child-rearing, cooking. There's a potential to butt heads there.
Share your own true tales of geek love!
Deborah: We spend a lot of time online. We'll sit next to each other in bed with our two laptops and say, "Did you see this? Did you see that?"
Deborah: Growing up in the south in particular, I saw a lot of people lose out on some great dating opportunities because they had some bad connotations about this one or that one being a geek. People are missing a chance to have a great relationship. You have to go beyond the stereotype.
Tracy Mayor is a Computerworld contributing editor.
Tracy Mayor is senior features editor at Computerworld.