Have you ever walked into a room

Peopled almost exclusively with individuals who are

Just

Like

You?

And I don't mean that they all have your pigment and your gender and your age

Or that you all match within the dull conformity

Demanded by today's society.

I mean that you're just like them in how you stand out

I mean that they want more from the world in a magnificent way,

An intense and hidden desire that you thought was held by you alone.

They like outer space and robotics and C(++)

And endocrine disruptors and rockets and environmental science

The program that is life,

And just when you thought you'd never find your variable type,

You walk into a room full of people

Instructing, destructing, constructing;

Engineering, pioneering, experimenting;

Launching, coding, exploding;

You've only ever dreamed about this.

{if(you find a group of highly intelligent, deeply idiosyncratic people

who share your interests and will answer your questions as you answer theirs

who you can talk to without having to make uncomfortable eye contact

who don't mind awkward silences) }

{

converse with them at length and make friends like you didn't think you ever would;

}

return 0;

}

...

...

...

Output:

0.

You have friends.