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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 2443523" data-attributes="member: 99">One thing that I've observed that I doubt is particular to me is the fact that I have gotten much less "disapproval" regarding my gaming hobby as I've gotten older than I did as a kid.  I live in the american south and I encountered a bit of religiously based anti-D&D sentiment as I was growing up.  But I got a lot of religiously based anti-drinking, smoking and sex sentiment as I was growing up too.I think that many adults naturally seek to provide guidance (even if it turns out to be misguidance) to the youths they encounter.  Whereas they wouldn't dream of trying to dictate what another adult would do, they view children as a "work in progress" and in many ways they are correct.  So when my friends and I were that age we would not talk about our D&D hobby around others for fear of getting a lecture from some adult or other.  And it certainly wasn't the coolest thing in the world to discuss with the high school girlfriends.As I got older, I came to understand that there was nothing inherently wrong with my gaming hobby and if people didn't like it that was fine.  I wasn't forcing them to play it.  If they voiced their opinion in mild terms, like "D&D?  I've heard it was kind of addictive..." then I'd reply in a similar tone:  "Well, it certainly addicted me to reading.  I've probably read tens of thousands of pages of history and literature as a direct result of my hobby."  And if a conversation strikes up from there, fine.  If they choose to be nasty about it then I can be nasty too.Mainly I've learned that the person in charge of me is me.  As a result I'm a lot more confident about speaking my mind now than when I was a kid.  I think that confidence comes through when I occasionally talk about my hobby, what I enjoy about it and the tangible benefits I've realized from its pursuit.  I think that people are less likely to try and attack or condemn me because they sense that I'm not easily cowed.  And I'm most certainly not beholden to them.That is not to say that I'm an "in your face" type of gamer.  Quite the opposite.  I have to deal with a lot of different people by virtue of my job and I'm routinely told that I'm fairly charming and personable.  But that doesn't mean that I let people push me around.  If the topic of gaming comes up in some fashion then I'm happy to discuss or even defend it if necessary.I don't evangelize about gaming but I'm certainly not ashamed of it.  Whether that "advances the cause" of the hobby, I don't know and I don't care.  I'm not the ambassador of gaming.  I'm the ambassador of me.</blockquote>

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