I’m not going to get into ideology, although in the interest
of full disclosure, I identify as an independent liberal. However, I live in DC, home to
both political parties, and at least half of my friends are conservative
Republicans. Besides, let’s face it, Republicans are really just political
nerds. They love politics and their
platform just as ardently as I do my X-men and Doctor Who. I think everyone should be able to respect
that.
So…with all that being said…
The weekend of Heroescon 2013, was also the same weekend the
NC GOP was holding their convention. AT
THE SAME CONVENTION CENTER.
You know, there is a booker out there that is still
cackling.
After a grueling 10 hour drive (should have been 7…thanks
Tropical Storm Andrea, you’ve been a peach), I head to the hotel lobby elevator
bay carrying two large bags and a small box.
There is a small line, but nothing too outrageous. I politely chat with the people in line, one
of them had on a terrific Star Trek shirt that I would have taken a pic of, if
my hands weren’t full. I get to the
front of the line when an elevator opens up and I start heading to it, when a
pack of young NC GOP delegates (they all still had their badges and ribbons on
their suits and dresses), come into the elevator bay area, looks at the line,
then looks at the open elevator doors, and ignoring the line, tries to cut in
front of us to get onto the elevator that we had been patiently waiting for!
Before I could say or do anything, two fellow Heroescon
geeks, step out of the line, block the NC GOP delegates’ way and very politely
said “excuse me, but I believe these people were here before you”.
I just about dropped my bags along with my jaw.
Comic book nerds, infamous for being socially awkward and
gawky, was more polite and understood the basic social niceties better than a
group of young NC GOP delegates?!?! Was
I in Bizarro world???
But there you had it, and that was the theme for practically
every encounter I had with the NC GOP that weekend. They prevented anyone from getting on an
elevator while they drunkenly argued over who’s room they should go to. They argued about some delegation seating
snafu/upset in front of my hotel room…at 11:30pm (hey, *some* of us have
to *work* the next day). But I
think my favorite incident was Saturday night, when I was wearing my vintage
Alfred Sheenan dress, when a very nice GOP lady stopped me in the lobby.
“I love your dress,” she gushed.
“Thank you so much!” I gushed back because hey, who doesn’t
like to be told their dress is awesome, right?
“Did you get it in JA-PAN?” she asked loudly
“Excuse me?!” I was sure I misheard her.
“JA-PAAAAN. Did you
get the dress in JA-PAAAN?”
Fortunately, Paige and Maria grabbed me and dragged me into
the elevator before I could say something decidedly inappropriate.
 |
| OK, it's a *little* Asian looking. But still...please don't scream "Jaaa-paaaan" at me. |
On the upside, practically every-single comic-book nerd we
met that weekend was *awesome*.
Perhaps everyone was on better behavior because almost everyone I spoke
to had had unpleasant run-ins with the GOP delegates, but doors and elevator
doors were held open, people were kind and courteous, and well, it just made me
feel so glad to be a part of a community that may get mocked on TV and in the
media, but when it came down to it, geeks are just good people.
I was going to say something about the growth of Heroescon and how differently it felt being a vendor this year over last...but honestly, I think Paigey captured it perfectly.
Also, this was the first year that I didn't leave the con on Sunday night, so I got to attend
the Dead Dog party! You know I
had a fantastically awesome time, when I didn’t think to take a SINGLE FLIPPING
PICTURE! Which is especially aggravating because I never took photo with my two favorite ladies – Vivian and SarahDyer!
 |
| I also got to meet the fabulous Lorraine for the first time in person (OK, we might have met before...I'm terrible at these things) |
Oh yes – and there was Mr Geoffrey the Photo-Gnome that we did
pictures of all weekend long…but note...we never got around take one with all of us. Total photo fail on our part, but again, seriously, the crazy amount of fun we were having made us forget...
See you next year Heroescon!
No comments:
Post a Comment