Why do people think I like nerdy things?

On Thursday nights, I help tutor some middle school and high school kids out in Rose Park, and as I was coming home, my ride, Camille, asked me if I did anything for May the Fourth. Now, I consider May the Fourth to be very much a non-holiday, like Groundhog Day and Talk like a Pirate Day. I explained to her than I haven't really seen Star Wars. I saw episodes I and IV when I was a kid, but I don't really remember them.

Camille seemed quite surprised: "You seem like you would be really big into Star Wars."

I was a bit taken aback--not because I think there's anything wrong with Star Wars, but because that's just not me. Why would she assume I liked it?

And that's not the first time this has happened. Last fall before Comic Con, I was on a home teaching visit, and my home teachee asked me if I was going to it because I seemed like I would like that kind of thing. (His roommate said, "No, Mark's into Church history.") He said he seemed to remember me writing about Marvel comics on my blog. Maybe he was thinking about a Facebook post I made, but I don't think I've ever talked about Marvel comics on here.

And as recently as fall 2013, I had someone tell me I seemed like a gamer. Which I definitely am not. Sometimes I'll play the old Super Nintendo or play the Wii when I'm visiting my nephews, but I think things like World of Warcraft are an incredible waste of time.

Now, given the fact that I don't really like these things, I always wonder: What is it about me that people assume I like nerdy things?

I recognize that I have a nerdy personality. I'm very awkward, and I don't dress well.

I also do like academic things. This week I was super excited to learn that Patty Sessions and Perrigrine Sessions are buried in the cemetery across the street from my church, so I'll have to "visit" them sometime. (Patty Sessions was a prominent midwife and an early member of the Relief Society, and her son Perrigrine Sessions settled Bountiful, originally called Sessions Settlement.) I have been known to geek out about rocks.

I also appreciate a good word story (meaning etymology or usage discussions), and I love watching Merriam-Webster's descriptive grammar videos. (Recently I was at Smith's grocery store and the announcement over the intercom was advertising "healthful food." It sounded so unnatural that I knew some know-it-all prescriptivist put them up to it. I like this video:)

But as for many of the more typical nerd stereotypes, I'm just not into them. I'm not particularly good at computers. I know enough to help the old people in cubicles around me, but if someone my age has a problem, I can't fix it.

I don't read fantasy novels--or many novels at all, for that matter. I'm also not big into science fiction or superheroes. I do watch horrible 1960s sitcoms, which I have found to generally be associated with awkward people, but not necessarily nerds. Therefore I watch Lost in Space and the Adam West Batman to get my sci-fi and superhero fixes, but I watch those more for their age and cleanliness than I do for their content. Although I do find them both amusing.

I suppose there are worse things people could assume about me. I definitely don't want to be viewed as a bro, and if they assume I'm a nerd, hopefully they assume I'm intelligent. But why does no one ever assume I like trail running, using reusable grocery bags, or collecting music for every holiday?

But I guess I can't fault people for misjudging me. (And by "judge" I'm talking more about assuming interests or personality, not the "good person/bad person" thing.) Because I have sometimes made initial judgments that turned out to be completely wrong as well.