The Nerd

Willum Cubbert, an aspiring young architect in Terre Haute, Indiana, has often told his friends about the debt he owes to Rick Steadman, a fellow ex-GI whom he has never met but who saved his life after he was seriously wounded in Vietnam. He has written to Rick to say that, as long as he is alive, “you will have somebody on Earth who will do anything for you”, so Willum is delighted when Rick shows up unexpectedly on the night of his 34th birthday party. But his delight soon fades as it becomes apparent that Rick is a hopeless “nerd”. A bumbling oaf with no social sense, little intelligence, and less tact.-dlm