3. Is That Guy Still In It? You Know, That One Guy?
"Oh, you watch wrestling?""Yep""Cool. I used to watch it back in the day. Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, The Rock...""Yeah, those guys were all great""Is that guy still in it? the bald guy, Mr Freeze or something?"...... Do you mean Stone Cold?""Yeah, that guy! he still drinking beer an beating up that old guy?""Uhh, no, he retired a few years ago""Ah, right. I stopped watching when it got stupid. Is that big guy with the burnt face still there?""Can we please stop talking now??" You've probably had this conversation a couple of times in your life, when someone attempts to strike up a conversation with you about wrestling, saying that they used to watch it or their friend or little brother watches. You try your best to be polite and contribute, but gradually, it becomes pointless, you trail off, and that's a few precious minutes of your life that you're never getting back. Don't get me wrong, you probably like talking about wrestling, and depending on your level of nerdery, you could probably jabber on for hours. But the other person just isn't into it, and you end up chatting about nothing. Worse still is when they say they stopped watching when "they got too old for it" or something similar, because then it becomes patronizing, and you feel like you're somehow being judged even if they probably never meant it like that. It's nice that they're attempting to relate to you, but you might as well be talking two different languages. Best to just not go there at all.
Stephen Maher has been a rock star, a bouncer, a banker and a busker on various streets in various countries. He's hung out with Robert Plant, he was at Nelson Mandela's birthday and he's swapped stories with prostitutes and crack addicts. He once performed at a Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras by accident. These days, he passes the time by writing about music, wrestling, games and other forms of nerdery. And he rarely drinks the blood of the innocent.
