Geeks
Who am I?
I dress in clothes otherwise only worn by performers, often including face paint and sometimes armor. I then travel in such garb, sometimes great distances to attend a gathering of other like-minded and similarly dressed people. Oh, and we pay hefty sums of money to attend these gatherings, often standing in long lines to get in. While attending these gatherings, it is common for us normally mild-mannered, seemingly ordinary individuals to begin acting crazy. We even have a special lingo that only other initiates into our group understand.
Who am I? I'm a Geek.
From Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Geek- noun: a person who is very interested in and knows a lot about a particular field or activity
We often encounter these individuals, sometimes groups of them, and we would never know it unless we noticed the subtle signs of their various affiliations. They may, for example, wear a t-shirt referencing some mantra, quote or with a logo only recognized if you are versed in their passion. They may play games related to their passion or even study books with rules and statistics on game play. These may be video games or more mild versions involving a table. Occasionally their competitive nature leads them to play live-action versions of their hobby, often without the necessary safety gear.
On the surface, all of this seems innocuous, even fun. Yet, when these people gather in great numbers they may need police to help secure the area. Riots have occurred, murders and criminal activity are not unheard of. Such is their passion, there are even billion-dollar industries that distribute constant streams of entertainment and merchandise based on these geeks' obsessions.
These geeks seem to become completely different from your coworker, friend or even spouse. Yet, odds are you know several of these geeks. You may even be one yourself. Most are tame and harmless, they merely annoy you with their constant ranting about such-and-such character, so-and-so player.
For with all their oddities, geeks are still just people. They deserve our respect as much as anyone else.
Now, I've copied and pasted the post you just read again below, but I changed just one word. I replaced the word "geek" with "sports fan".
It will make just as much sense as before; even the dictionary definition. Thus you can see sports fans are as much geeks as any comic book, fantasy or science fiction enthusiast.
Who am I?
I dress in clothes otherwise only worn by performers, often including face paint and sometimes armor. I then travel in such garb, sometimes great distances to attend a gathering of other like-minded and similarly dressed people. Oh, and we pay hefty sums of money to attend these gatherings, often standing in long lines to get in. While attending these gatherings, it is common for us normally mild-mannered, seemingly ordinary individuals to begin acting crazy. We even have a special lingo that only other initiates into our group understand.
Who am I? I'm a sports fan.
From Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Sports Fan- noun: a person who is very interested in and knows a lot about a particular field or activity
We often encounter these individuals, sometimes groups of them, and we would never know it unless we noticed the subtle signs of their various affiliations. They may, for example, wear a t-shirt referencing some mantra, quote or with a logo only recognized if you are versed in their passion. They may play games related to their passion or even study books with rules and statistics on game play. These may be video games or more mild versions involving a table. Occasionally their competitive nature leads them to play live-action versions of their hobby, often without the necessary safety gear.
On the surface, all of this seems innocuous, even fun. Yet, when these people gather in great numbers they may need police to help secure the area. Riots have occurred, murders and criminal activity are not unheard of. Such is their passion, there are even billion-dollar industries that distribute constant streams of entertainment and merchandise based on these sports fans' obsessions.
These sports fans seem to become completely different from your coworker, friend or even spouse. Yet, odds are you know several of these sports fans. You may even be one yourself. Most are tame and harmless, they merely annoy you with their constant ranting about such-and-such character, so-and-so player.
For with all their oddities, sports fans
are still just people. They deserve our respect as much as anyone else.
