I was very shy when i was at school. The kind of child who spend all the time submerged in books and comic books. It was really a shelter to avoid being involved in a lot of things that sounded creepy and scary to me. I was bullied a little, not always, but intermittentely. For some of my friends, it was a lot worst. I suppose i was a nerd, but people found me quite nice, so they let me do.
Of course, for a child with these characteristics, soon i was attracted to all that sounded as fantastic (horror, fantasy, sci-fi).
We started to play d&d even before the first games arrived to my village. We saw people playing on films, and it seemed pretty awesome. So, with the help of one of us who spent the summer in Barcelona, we started to play. We invented the rules, we had no idea, but we had a lot of fun.
Soon, at high school, we realized that there was a roleplaying club in the city, so i went there and started to play with them sometimes. People there was the most strange and variable group of people. There were ners and geeks, but also some drunkards, metalheads, a couple of punks, some enlightened hippie-alike stoners and other that were simply very strange and undefinied. They used to meet other people, they were nice and funny, and very important, they used to embrace the strange and the weird, putting away sensitive people from hostile environments (Yes, they did!)
Years later, when i started hanging out (i started to drink very late), i realized that we were a strong and strange bunch.When someone at the pub or at the disco was watching some of my friends and he was telling me: Oh my god, he is so fucking strange! I always said: he is my friend. And so we did, all of us.
Hanging out with all this guys (and girls, yes, there were some girls, strange as we all were. Not many, because on those times it was harder to find girls with the same hobbies, hard times ;) ) was incredible
Now, as time goes by by, when one of us forgets about those times and calls someone weird or strange, i always remember him how we all were, how we all are. I will never judge someone for how he seems to be, and i always give people an opportunity.
As Sigourney weaver said: “Please, god, please, don’t let me be normal!”
