ladysprite (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladysprite) wrote2005-02-10 10:45 am
ladysprite) wrote2005-02-10 10:45 am
New Relationship Woes
I've been with these people for over a month now. We've seen each other more days than not, gossiped together, shared jokes and secrets and advice and opinions. I've done my best to encourage bonding over common interests, and to convince them that, while I'm slightly kooky and outside the mainstream, I really am a sane and likeable person. But eventually, in all relationships, the Scary Point comes. My coworkers are realizing that I'm a Fannish SCAdian Roleplaying SF Geek.
I thought I could be subtle about it at first - it's easy to pass Arisia off as a 'gathering of friends,' or a vague reunion-like event. And I avoided going into detail on my weekly dance classes; just mentioning that I do historic dance is usually enough to convince anyone to change the subject. The only person even vaguely interested was the office Ren Faire junkie, and she was appeased with a response of 'Yeah, kinda like that.'
But it infiltrates my life at all levels, and eventually it's not possible to continue hiding, especially for someone like myself who breaks out in hives at the thought of actually lying. Questions about how I met my husband eventually push to the revelation that he was the GM for my first AD&D game in college. The paperbacks in my purse always manage to have unicorns or werewolves on the covers. And I can't help but enthuse about my latest foray into teaching dance for the Greatest Commedia dell'Arte Troupe in the Entire World.
Unfortunately, while my quirkiness has been tolerated and even occasionally seen as charming in other workplaces, I think they're going to take a little while to get used to it here. Flat stares, tiny smirks, and the eternally annoying question of, 'So, like, do you, like, dress up? In, like, costumes, and stuff?' delivered in the same tone that one might ask a person if they had sex with household appliances were the majority of my experience yesterday when it slipped out in chatting that I do historic reenactment.
I think they'll learn to handle it. But something tells me that I should keep the live-action roleplaying and late-night trips to Man Ray under my hat for now....
I thought I could be subtle about it at first - it's easy to pass Arisia off as a 'gathering of friends,' or a vague reunion-like event. And I avoided going into detail on my weekly dance classes; just mentioning that I do historic dance is usually enough to convince anyone to change the subject. The only person even vaguely interested was the office Ren Faire junkie, and she was appeased with a response of 'Yeah, kinda like that.'
But it infiltrates my life at all levels, and eventually it's not possible to continue hiding, especially for someone like myself who breaks out in hives at the thought of actually lying. Questions about how I met my husband eventually push to the revelation that he was the GM for my first AD&D game in college. The paperbacks in my purse always manage to have unicorns or werewolves on the covers. And I can't help but enthuse about my latest foray into teaching dance for the Greatest Commedia dell'Arte Troupe in the Entire World.
Unfortunately, while my quirkiness has been tolerated and even occasionally seen as charming in other workplaces, I think they're going to take a little while to get used to it here. Flat stares, tiny smirks, and the eternally annoying question of, 'So, like, do you, like, dress up? In, like, costumes, and stuff?' delivered in the same tone that one might ask a person if they had sex with household appliances were the majority of my experience yesterday when it slipped out in chatting that I do historic reenactment.
I think they'll learn to handle it. But something tells me that I should keep the live-action roleplaying and late-night trips to Man Ray under my hat for now....
no subject
My guess it that your co-workers have never met anyone who does this sort of thing and can not process it via their regular methods of classification. They are probably wondering if "does historic reenactments" goes under Game Playing or Weird Sexual Practices. :0)
When I tried to explain to The Beloved Object that Puggles' hobby was LARP, frankly he was at a loss as to how to grasp the concept. And this is someone who has played D&D. He's pretty shy, so the idea that adults would want to run around in costume pretending to be someone else all weekend sounds strange. My guess is that your co-workers are in the same boat. If I were you, I'd bring in some photos to share so they can see that this is a bunch of normal people who have a fun and interesting hobby.
Also consider this point, if you were part of a theater company that put on Shakespeare in the Round or a RenFair performer, do you think they would have reacted differently? I doubt it. You are an interesting person with an interesting past time. Don't be afraid to share it with others. You are normal. Go be normal.
One last point, just because I thought of this. Everyone is enthusiastic about their hobby, sometimes it's what you live for and the reason you work; but its only really quirky when you decide you need to wear your Star Fleet Uniform to jury duty. That's when it becomes a news item.
no subject
Oh, poor
no subject