A friend recently ended an e-mail with this pair of questions:

> So the question is, are geeks squares, and if so, what is at the root of
> it all?

Trust me, it made sense within the context of the exchange.   I replied as follows:

That's an excellent question, and I'm glad that you asked it.

Once upon a time, in fact, at the beginning of time, people lived short cold miserable lives, huddled together in caves. The caves were cold, and they smelled bad, but really, where else was there to sleep?

As time passed, Early Man split into two groups, Hunters, and Gatherers. But they still died young, and everyone froze their butts off in the winter.

And then came the discovery of Fire. Suddenly, the Hunters could cook what they killed, and their disease rate dropped, particularly for those diseases involving parasites.

The Gatherers were able to make bread, cook lentils, and produce savory soups and vegetable stews.

And everyone stayed warmer in the winter.

Eventually, the Hunters and the Gatherers learned to cooperate, and the benefits of Balanced Meals soon became apparent, except to the Teenagers.

The Gatherers learned that, with Fire, they could sleep outside most of the year, avoiding those dank rank caves.

The Hunters said: "Cave smell? You got problem with that?" and the Gatherers backed off; some of them evolved into Lawyers in self defense. Some of the Hunters, in turn, evolved into owners of mega-banks, but that's another story.

Our story concerns the miraculous advance of humanity that was engendered by the discovery of Fire.

And who, you may well ask, started the fire in the first place?

Ah, that's where the Geeks come in!

So you see, it truly is the Geeks who are at the root of it all.