Embracing what you're into.

[The Curmudgeon]

For someone calling himself The Curmudgeon, this might come off as a little flowery and preachy. So be it.

So Mrs C has become Grade A obsessed with Pokemon Go. I mean, crazy. I mean leaving the house on her day off in the early morning and staying out all day hunting Pokemon. But hey, why not. She's getting exercise, she's enjoying something she's loved for twenty years and she's meeting a bunch of like-minded people doing it.

She's been telling me about the negativity she's getting from the people at her work because of it, though, and it pisses me off. People talking to her as if she's a) mentally retarded or b) a lonely creep. And it's only because it's a flavour of the month phenomenon that she's getting this kind of abuse.

If someone asked her "what did you last night?" and instead of saying "oh, I was out playing Pokemon" she said, I dunno, "I watched the X Factor", that wouldn't get any weird looks. Hell, if a guy said he was playing FIFA or Call of Duty all night no-one would blink an eye. Why is this different? In fact, she said that after getting looks and veiled insults about playing it, they then turned their conversation to Celebrity Big Brother. And that's acceptable?

I'm no stranger to having my interests being mocked. A grown man watching wrestling, that fake children's pantomime? A grown man reading comic books?

I've learned, and this is something I'm preaching to Mrs C, that instead of making excuses for what she's into (she was saying, "oh, I'm just going for a drive and playing it a bit..." No, you're going out with the intention of playing Pokemon Go), instead of trying to get other people to "get it", fucking embrace that shit. Do I watch wrestling? Fuck yes. At least six hours a week, mate. Always have, I imagine I always will.

I'm probably preaching to the converted here, but have you ever faced any criticisms over your more nerdy pursuits? And how do you counter it?

[trashcanman]

You realize that the term "nerd" as it was originally used was specifically meant as an insult, yeah? It had less to do with liking certain media franchises or formats so much as being permavirgin wierdo who gathered around that stuff because it was the only place where they could get away from the abuse. So yeah, there have been criticisms. When I used to play my DS on break at work I had people who had never said a word to me before so rattled that they felt the need to mock me about it. At one point there were a couple of bros sitting behind me talking about me like I wasn't even there like "Duh, what is he doing?" "Durh, I don't know, watching cartoons or some shit?". The correct answer of course being, "none of your fucking business". Other people just walked up and asked me what I was doing like they'd never heard of video games before and got all uncomfortable when I showed them as if I was watching porn on it or something. Then they went and played with their phones, as if that's any different. It's like a full kit wanker who gets mad at people for cosplaying at conventions.

[The Curmudgeon]

Ha, I can imagine that. "Look at that freak playing video games on his break" as they try to beat their score on Candy Crush.

Again, it's never bothered me. When I was an insecure teenager I remember hiding Spider-Man comics up my shirt as I walked from the shops in case any girls saw me, now I just shared a picture on Facebook of a Spider-Man comic I've been desperately looking for and managed to get from eBay.

[Ben]

I grew out of being insecure about my nerdy hobbies roughly around the time I started posting in the Fortress, with maybe a few exceptions. Funny enough, though, the one thing people seem to get on me for more than anything else is listening to metal. And I can throw that shit back in their faces all day with a quick, "oh yeah? What do YOU listen to?" and then proceed to inform them that their favorite artist doesn't even write his own songs, he's been to jail for beating his now ex-wife, and then mock their second favorite artist (who is always invoked once I tear into the favorite) for using sprinkler beats and autotune. I can talk circles around the haters about music all day, which never fails to make THEM uncomfortable so I don't have to be.

But yeah, mainly I just don't care. I took some heat for a while for collecting sports cards as an adult.

"Isn't that for little kids?"
"Yeah, says the guy who drank Moscato at dinner last weekend."

Throw it right back, I say. That way I don't have to go on the defensive and try to make someone understand why I like what I like. The reality is that everybody has a hobby or an interest or a taste or a tendency for something that isn't becoming of "adults." Who fucking cares?

[trashcanman]

Yup. Gotta love those "country" douchebags who don't own a single Waylon Jennings or Willy Nelson album listening to fucking failed rock-falvored children's music and dressing up like cowboys while criticizing "that headbanger crap". Who gives a shit what is and isn't for little kids? If you like it, do it. Why force yourself to do things you don't like under the guise of meeting some other dickhead's standards of what they think an "adult" has to do? It is funny how the comic book thing has come around. I've got girls complimenting me on Flash and Spider-Man t-shirts now as often as I got called a faggot in high school.

[Ben]

Yeah, the superhero craze plus other media like TWD has definitely turned quite a few "nerdy" hobbies into "cool" ones. I haven't heard anyone rag on comic books in recent memory, and I know a handful of people who've started reading em and collecting em too. Nothing makes things acceptable like mainstream exposure, eh?