Geek Out of the Closet

At a lunch gathering the other day, I off-handedly outted myself, to some folks I don’t know very well, as a Star Wars and Star Trek geek. I was surprised by the reaction. There were seven of us sitting at the table together, and the subject of “television in other countries” came up. During this conversation, I mentioned my happiness at finding Star Wars on TV in Sweden. In response to the looks of “So?” from everyone, I admitted to being a fan of the movies.

You’d have thought I said, “I like licking carburators.” The wide-eyed stares I got told me I had just been branded a weirdo. I didn’t even really say that much about it — maybe a total of 30 seconds worth of speaking on the subject. But a “fan” of Star Wars and Star Trek, to these people, means full-on fanatic.

They asked me if I dressed up in Star Wars costume. No, I’ve never. They asked if I go to Star Wars conventions. No, I’ve never, (but I’d like to, some time). They asked did I go see the movies on opening night. Yes, I did (for the first prequel in ’99).

Someone commented, “Oh god, I’d never stand in line for 24 hours to see any movie.” I wouldn’t either; I stood in line maybe one hour, with family and friends.

One guy told of a former coworker who dressed up as “one of those guys” every Halloween. When I asked which of “those guys,” his description made me say, “Oh, a Star Fleet officer — that’s Star Trek, not Star Wars.”

The response to that comment was, “Oh man, you should just stop talking. You’re getting deeper with every thing you say.”

I did stop talking on that subject (although I really hadn’t talked much about it). The whole situation stunned me.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com