Hi!
After reading the whole thread it's interesting to see how some professions really do look "ill" at certain interests.
I can give you some insight as to things in medicine. I'm a doctor. Multiple sub specialties, board certified, the whole nine yards.
It would be an understatement to say that mentioning you play RPG's or even video games for that matter is not only frowned upon, but depending on your specialty could end your career...
Some doctors, especially the older ones (which unfortunately hold the reigns of authority, department chairs, medical directors, etc), think if your spending your free time in ANYTHING but reading medical journals or otherwise improving your knowledge base you are not committed to medicine and are thus a bad professional.
When your training it is perhaps worse. Some training programs (especially hierarchical surgical related ones), such a revelation may put you on the receiving end of being cut out, or worse not being able to get a positive recommendation for future training or license applications, which can pretty much end you before you even start.
Heck, even the patient-doctor relationship can be jeopardized if in candid conversation you let slip you like slaying dragons in your spare time. Patients don't seem to be able to jive that I can play at being a pretend elf and diagnose your serious illness competently.
Its not hard to see why I would not only hide it, but also actively deny I would play RPG's.
Granted with time, as younger people get into medicine and the authoritarian approach lessens, to my delight I have found fellow docs who "know how to cast spells". But there is still a long way to go before you can be open about it.
I'm pretty sure none of this is surprising to many of you, but I'll share something I found surprising to me.
Through the years, like many of you, I've gone to conventions, hanged out at the LGS and other such venues where people that share our same interests hang out.
I was kind of bummed out to find that when I was with people talking and sharing about the hobby, generally having an engaging enjoyable conversation and the discussion wanders into real life things, and I mention I am a doctor, I could see the "wall" visibly shut down the conversation. Heck, I've even had people say "your joking, right?" Incredulous that a doctor could play RPG's.
Of course that is not everyone, I would say probably not even most of them. But I found it ironic that some of my medical colleagues would "shun" me for playing such a game and at the same time someone whom plays RPG's would find it awkward to talk to me about RPG's because of my profession.
I admit I find the irony pretty funny.
Primarchone
