Look, over the years, us nerds have earned a certain reputation. Part of that complex web of cultural stereotypes is the assumption that none of us wash or otherwise have poor hygiene. Nowhere does that assumption get put to the test more than on a con floor, because if you're not passing out from the heat then you're surely excreting enough moisture through your armpits to make sure you'll embarrass yourself due to the temperature somehow. So what do you do? Well, you've already made sure that you won't be wearing anything grey. That's a rookie mistake. You've also made sure that you're well equipped with either roll-on or spray deodorants, depending on whether you took a plane and whether you care about asthmatics. You'll be slathering that stuff on yourself every chance you get, out of fear that the nasty stench you keep catching whiffs off isn't the cafeteria but your gross pits.
12. Meeting Your Fellow Nerds
In your day-to-day existence, you live a double life. There might be that one guy in your office who likes Battlestar Galactica and will occasionally put up with you recounting the excitement recent developments in Spider-Man, and your friends will go see Man of Steel at the cinema with you, but for the most part you have the same secret identity issues as the heroes you read about and enthuse over. The comic convention is different, though. You can walk around sans cowl, without the mask. It's your Watchtower, your Avengers Mansion, where everyone can be themselves without impunity. Thing is...some of your people aren't quite the ambassadors for the fandom that you'd pick. There are some that mean well, but struggle when it comes to social interaction. Which is okay! But then there are the ones you'd rather not be associated with. The ones you tend to block out of your mind when you think about comics, the one with vast collections of cheesecake sketches and Japanese cartoons involving tentacles. When you get chance to revel wholeheartedly in the thing you love, you also come face to face with the parts you hate.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
