-273: 11 June 2003

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11 June 2003 - 4:04 pm

E-- seems like a very staid place. This is a business professional campus, for example, and everyone is expected to wear a suit to work. However, my image of E-- as a professional organization was shattered yesterday. While eating lunch in the first floor cafeteria I noticed some guys playing cards a few tables over from me. At first I didn't pay much attention to them, but then I noticed that their cards were black. This was fairly unusual, so I discreetly took a closer look. If only I hadn't. These guys, all of them in their late 30s at best and more likely their 40s, were playing Magic: The Gathering. Now it's not like these guys are old enough to have played Magic when they were kids, so what would cause them to take up a fantasy card game at a time in their lives when they are supposed to have outgrown things like that? More importantly, why would they choose to then play the game where other people can see them and laugh at them?

(Just to confirm that yesterday wasn't an isolated incident, the guys were in the MPR playing Magic again today, apparently oblivious to the fact that it is even less cool to play Magic when you're 43 than it is to play Magic when you're 15.)

As if that weren't strange enough, when I was driving home through Clayton, I saw a grey-haired lady, probably in here early 60s waiting to cross Central. She was conservatively dressed and was carrying a clipboard. She stood out because she was wearing a gas mask.

Posted by on 10 June 2003 at 3:48 PM

Comments

There used to be a small cadre of Magic players here in my office a few years back; enough people that there was a 'magic' mailing list added onto the group mail server. All of them have mostly dispersed now going onto bigger and better things.

These people were also far too old to have picked it up during their childhood -- but were also old enough to have kids who got into it first, and introduced them.

Granted, these people also were the types that played lots of D&D during their college years, and thus were probably more susceptible to peer pressure from their kids. Your mileage may vary.

Posted by ben on 13 June 2003 - 6:57 PM

These people were also far too old to have picked it up during their childhood -- but were also old enough to have kids who got into it first, and introduced them.

Granted, these people also were the types that played lots of D&D during their college years, and thus were probably more susceptible to peer pressure from their kids. Your mileage may vary.

Posted by ben on 13 June 2003 - 6:57 PM

i once briefly dated a very successful and attractive guy who worked in banking, seemed cool, well read, well travelled, etc, but then on like my third date with him he casually mentioned that he played magic the gathering professionally, like at tournaments, international ones, i thought he must be joking so i did a google search on his name and magic tournaments, turns out he was the number four competitive player in the world. i stopped returning his calls completely, and now its a dating horror story to comfort my friends when their dates go badly. strange world.

Posted by artemis on 25 June 2003 - 5:56 PM

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i once briefly dated a very successful and attractive guy who worked in banking, seemed cool, well read, well travelled, etc, but then on like my third date with him he casually mentioned that he played magic the gathering professionally, like at tournaments, international ones, i thought he must be joking so i did a google search on his name and magic tournaments, turns out he was the number four competitive player in the world. i stopped returning his calls completely, and now its a dating horror story to comfort my friends when their dates go badly. strange world. There used to be a small cadre of Magic players here in my office a few years back; enough people that there was a 'magic' mailing list added onto the group mail server. All of them have mostly dispersed now going onto bigger and better things. These people were also far too old to have picked it up during their childhood -- but were also old enough to have kids who got into it first, and introduced them. Granted, these people also were the types that played lots of D&D during their college years, and thus were probably more susceptible to peer pressure from their kids. Your mileage may vary. There used to be a small cadre of Magic players here in my office a few years back; enough people that there was a 'magic' mailing list added onto the group mail server. All of them have mostly dispersed now going onto bigger and better things. These people were also far too old to have picked it up during their childhood -- but were also old enough to have kids who got into it first, and introduced them. Granted, these people also were the types that played lots of D&D during their college years, and thus were probably more susceptible to peer pressure from their kids. Your mileage may vary.
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