There's something inherently wrong about being a geek, and yet cackling gleefully at the flaming heat death that is WorldCom. The underlying twinge of guilt has something to do with knowing that many of the employees were normal geeks (look, just avoid the oxymoron and run with it, ok?) like the rest of us, putting in the hours to pay for houses and kids and college debt and trips home to see Mom.

The twinge of guilt has something to do with knowing that, given only slightly different circumstances, those anonymous 'Affected, Downsized Employees' could just as easily have been people I cared about. Twingey bits aside, you know what I said when I first read the news? "Hey, maybe this will make house prices a little more reasonable out in the D.C. area…"(That sound you hear is Heather and Andy cackling.)