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Trouble at the Con

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MU
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04 May 2013, 6:04 pm

I suddenly remembered a situation that I briefly ran into once at the local comic convention one summer, and wanted some other perspectives on the matter.

I simply walked past an unkept looking guy, probably a little younger than me, and he uttered, "...nerd." Now I don't know if this was me he was talking to, but I was holding a large figurine about to buy it. These two seconds got me thinking. If there are people in terrible costumes around, and others with boxes and boxes of comics they want to sell. Why do I get the jab? How many people go to a con to laugh at others for hours?

If you don't like comic conventions, and think no one is cool at them. You should have better things to do than to waste your money for a ticket to lower someone else's otherwise good day.



AgentPalpatine
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04 May 2013, 7:10 pm

MU wrote:
I suddenly remembered a situation that I briefly ran into once at the local comic convention one summer, and wanted some other perspectives on the matter.

I simply walked past an unkept looking guy, probably a little younger than me, and he uttered, "...nerd." Now I don't know if this was me he was talking to, but I was holding a large figurine about to buy it. These two seconds got me thinking. If there are people in terrible costumes around, and others with boxes and boxes of comics they want to sell. Why do I get the jab? How many people go to a con to laugh at others for hours?

If you don't like comic conventions, and think no one is cool at them. You should have better things to do than to waste your money for a ticket to lower someone else's otherwise good day.


Ummmmmm....this is one of those circumstances that are so off the wall that there really are no ways to deal with them. If you go to a comics convention, you know what to expect. Given the "unkempt" part of the description, there may have been more behind it.


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Cilantro
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04 May 2013, 10:40 pm

Nothing wrong with nerds. :P

Some people at these types of gatherings are the good kind of weird, like the guy who came out of nowhere to show my friend and I some gameboy mods he'd been working on, while others are the bad kind of weird, like the one who just stared angrily at me when I was introduced to the conversation as the one to talk to about a particular subject and then ignored me completely. Enjoy the good ones and let the bad ones enjoy the fruits of being unpleasant.



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05 May 2013, 3:34 am

Because you never see nerds at a comic convention. WTF did the person expect to be there, cheerleaders?


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05 May 2013, 10:48 am

MU wrote:
I suddenly remembered a situation that I briefly ran into once at the local comic convention one summer, and wanted some other perspectives on the matter.

I simply walked past an unkept looking guy, probably a little younger than me, and he uttered, "...nerd." Now I don't know if this was me he was talking to, but I was holding a large figurine about to buy it. These two seconds got me thinking. If there are people in terrible costumes around, and others with boxes and boxes of comics they want to sell. Why do I get the jab? How many people go to a con to laugh at others for hours?

If you don't like comic conventions, and think no one is cool at them. You should have better things to do than to waste your money for a ticket to lower someone else's otherwise good day.


Believe it or not but there are those who go to con to feel at home and be accepted like you or me to escape the pressures of everyday stereotypes and what not.

Then you have people who attend to cons to stir up trouble for people attending by going and laughing at them. I worked with a guy who thought that all people who went to Dragoncon are dorks.



treblecake
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05 May 2013, 11:52 am

Were there any famous actors there doing signings? I find that at conventions that have actors from tv shows doing signing you come across people who are just there to see an actor because they are hot and have no interest in general nerd culture.


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Cai85
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06 May 2013, 3:42 pm

Summer_Twilight wrote:
Believe it or not but there are those who go to con to feel at home and be accepted like you or me to escape the pressures of everyday stereotypes and what not.

Then you have people who attend to cons to stir up trouble for people attending by going and laughing at them. I worked with a guy who thought that all people who went to Dragoncon are dorks.


I was at an anime convention last year where two people in my party attempted to be 'trendy' and talked a lot of trash about the other attendees. Mostly I ignored it, because it wasn't worth the trouble of confrontation.

Most of the time, though, I go to such conventions because I can be open about some of my geeky interests there (Korean pop, anime, and dressing up in costume is fun since I don't have to worry about what to wear those days) about four times a year. I've also met some cool people there that I stay in contact with. Sure, some people look at you funny when you venture out of the con center, but I just smile and tell myself, 'this con is awesome, and so I don't care if I'm looked at funny over it).



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06 May 2013, 4:16 pm

Dragon Con is not just full of nerds but lots and lots of people who like to go there to drink and party. Yes, while you have your learning crowd, there are the ones that go to let their hair down.