Sometimes there are advantages to being a wargamer that aren't immediately obvious. I mean apart from all the opportunities to meet a wide range of fascinating individuals, many of whom do possess both soap and a towel, there are other benefits.
Most wargamers read extensively and therefore develop the sort of mind that just picks up random bits of information. So, for a start, they make good pub team members if not necessarily brilliant conversationalists. Actually, on balance, I think that's about it.
One of the often unseen advantages of being a wargamer is what happens once non-wargamers find out. Okay, so initially there is a degree of shock when they discover a grown man playing with toys but most people will regard you as eccentric not dangerous. However, I do reckon it is normally wise to prove you are competent in your job before you let this fact slip out, but once you do the doorway is open to owning up to virtually anything.
Because basically it doesn't matter what else you 'fess up to from that point no one is going to regard you as any more wierd than they do already.
Take cult television, for example. Oddly enough I'm not a fan of reality TV, but anything with a spaceship or shape changing aliens or mind controlling mysterious organisations and I'm hooked up with the video recorder set. Yup, I own all the series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the X-Files, and a few more you've probably never heard of.
So today, following the launch of Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" on ITV4 I can comfortably admit to watching and enjoying it, whereas a work colleague has to make the point he only watches it because "it's full of hot tottie" once he has let slip that he's a fan. He's now thought of as a wierdo who letches over girls young enough to be his daughter, whilst I'm just, you know, the guy that plays toy soldiers. And that's old news and not an arrestable offence.
Most wargamers read extensively and therefore develop the sort of mind that just picks up random bits of information. So, for a start, they make good pub team members if not necessarily brilliant conversationalists. Actually, on balance, I think that's about it.
One of the often unseen advantages of being a wargamer is what happens once non-wargamers find out. Okay, so initially there is a degree of shock when they discover a grown man playing with toys but most people will regard you as eccentric not dangerous. However, I do reckon it is normally wise to prove you are competent in your job before you let this fact slip out, but once you do the doorway is open to owning up to virtually anything.
Because basically it doesn't matter what else you 'fess up to from that point no one is going to regard you as any more wierd than they do already.
Take cult television, for example. Oddly enough I'm not a fan of reality TV, but anything with a spaceship or shape changing aliens or mind controlling mysterious organisations and I'm hooked up with the video recorder set. Yup, I own all the series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the X-Files, and a few more you've probably never heard of.
So today, following the launch of Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" on ITV4 I can comfortably admit to watching and enjoying it, whereas a work colleague has to make the point he only watches it because "it's full of hot tottie" once he has let slip that he's a fan. He's now thought of as a wierdo who letches over girls young enough to be his daughter, whilst I'm just, you know, the guy that plays toy soldiers. And that's old news and not an arrestable offence.
The Dollhouse is well worth watching and having bought the DVD set and watched the whole series, all I can say is that the season finale is a corker.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that you accept as routine being a man working in a largely female healthcare environment, is that as you wander about your business, you will be routinely approached by a succession of purposeful ladies intent on establishing your identity. The underlying assumption is of course, that you shouldn't be there, so I certainly won't be revealing that I am a wargamer!
ReplyDeleteActually, as I routinely carry boxes of sharp scalpels with me, I suppose it's a fair cop :O)
Regards, Chris