Wherein I Find Myself Guilty
So, it is Wednesday, Glorious Wednesday, and I am at my beloved Comic Book Shoppe. My regular books have all been pulled for me of course, and I am also prowling the new books in search of whatever else may catch my wandering eye. I really do love going to my store, they all pretty much know me, they know what I like, and it is possible to have deep and involved conversations about all kinds of deeply deeply interesting things.
As I was having my purchases rung up, a gaggle of customers entered the store. This particular gaggle was composed of Magic fans. I believe that this is some sort of card game. Well, the UPS man, was late with this weeks delivery apparently, and they were all simmering in a gentle stew of anxiety and anticipation.
Naturally, as a COMIC book fan...I curled my lip. These people were...Nerds! They had the audacity to prefer a different kind of entertainment/obsession from the one that I liked! How pitiful. Hovering there, waiting....waiting for their weekly fix.
And then I caught myself, and gave myself a metaphorical slap in the face. I had no business judging these perfectly nice young men and women. I can remember when the books would be shipped on Wednesday, and sometimes they came on time and sometimes they came late, and sometimes they didn't come until the NEXT day, and I can also remember stamping my dainty feet and whining. A lot. So these Magic fans, were actually behaving themselves quite well, all things considered. And I felt ashamed of myself.
What IS it about people? No matter what hobby we all chose, we are all guilty to some degree of sneering at the tastes of others. And yet, we don't really WANT all of those other people to like the stuff that we like, because it is too wonderful, too esoteric for their feeble senses to appreciate. Or something like that, I guess. There seems to be a part of a lot of people that likes being in a clique...witness the rage of any variety of geeks and nerds who are enraged that women are trying to storm the bastions of their particular fandom. As a Stormer of Bastions myself, I should have more sympathy for people in the same boat. I don't want to be one of THOSE people.
So one of these days, perhaps I'll even buy a package of Magic cards and see what all the excitement is about.
posted by SallyP @ 12:16 PM
7 Comments:
I admire your confession! Magic's a pretty swell game--I played it through high school, put it down for a while, and find myself playing it again with my youngest son, who's quite enamored.
I've never felt the desire to play Magic, and I will admit to some irritation upon entering a comic shop that's in the middle of a noisy and lengthy tournament. I've also had to squirm around tables to get at items, which is an additional annoyance.
I try to squelch my irritation, though, simply because I realize it's another revenue stream for comic stores. Most of them need all the help they can get. So if those folks are helping to subsidize the existence of the store, I can overlook some inconvenience.
My irritation with Magic and its ilk is that a company that produced products I like, Wizards of the Coast, discovered this great new way to make money – Magic, the Gathering – and quit making the things I wanted them to make. It's as though DC canceled all the books I liked and rebooted their entire universe with new #1s in a grittier world where Amanda Waller is svelte and Barbara Gordon isn't in a wheelchair.
Oh, wait...
– Jack of Spades
My dad's friend (sorta of uncle)gave me a deck for christmas one year. I never played with them and currently have no idea where they are. The only time card players annoy me is when their loud or spawled out on the floor forcing me to find another path. Though the last only happens at the Books a Million not my LCS.
Pete, I'm glad that you're having fun...which is the whole point, isn't it?
Bryan, I am all for anything that will help my beloved Comic Book store to make money, and therefore stay in business so that I can buy my equally beloved books.
Oh Jack.
Erin, having to pick through bodies sprawled is indeed a pain, and I can well remember doing it with my kids. But I have to admit that the desperate card players that I encountered were pretty well behaved. Just a little cranky, and who can blame them? I've certainly been in their shoes.
My lcs does magic tournaments on Saturdays. Once, I couldn't pick up my books before then and I have to say the lines and crowds were long enough for me never to go in that day of the week but I'm all for the revenue stream. My lcs is close to my gym and if it ever shut down, I don't know if I could follow weekly comics anymore.
-Anarky
Revenue streams are indeed a good thing for our lovely independant comic book stores.
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