Entry d10: A Slip of the Tongue

    Today during my fashion fabrics class we had some down time, so I took the chance to get some work done on my project, which is beginning to hurtle at me very fast. What I was doing was cutting pictures out of all the old core rule books so that at my event I can show the crowd the evolution of the books from edition to edition. I was busy cutting away when I hear the comment;

    "People still play that?" from my teacher Mrs. Talafero. It was funny that when she asked this as two of my weekly players were sitting right next to me, so I explained that we still did and that in fact we were going to be playing this very night as we do every Wednesday. She laughed and said she remembered some people who played back when she was younger and then walked away to attend to the class. While this is interesting, its something that she said later that really got my motor running.

    After school we stopped by her class room to help her move some sewing machines for her, in there with her was her son who she introduced... but when she introduced us she said it like this:

    "This is David, Dakoda, and Sage; they play Dungeons and Dragons" This introduction kinda shocked me, not in a bad way as I have never really kept my hobby a secret; I carry a d20 on me at all times and I can even be seen carrying the Players Handbook during school on occasion, no what shocked me was that I was okay with this definition of my person.

    In the last post I detailed one of my negative encounters via Dungeons and Dragons, but I never really got into how the reaction during my project has been. In truth I was surprised how willing people have been to allow me to hang posters in their stores or place cut out paintings in their buildings. So far I have put posters up in several language arts class rooms, the library, the local gaming store Gamers Haven, and even my botany classroom. I plan to go to borders tomorrow and post my fliers up there, and I even thought about trying Hazels. I expected resistance and a lot of negative feelings towards what my project is. Yet the most I've been met with by those that Ive invited or asked about posters to is a good natured curiosity of what is D&D and what my project stands for... and these positive reactions from the public are awesome.

    In the end I think that the label, that defining comment she placed on me has only encouraged me further, only inspired me to give 243% on this project and make it so it'll be the best it can be, whether the public continues to except me or not. I'm going to shatter the stereotypes that surround the role playing community, I'm going to change the minds of people like that woman at Hazels.

I'm Dakoda McAlister, and I play Dungeons and Dragons.