[TRENCHES] Thursday, April 10, 2014 - The Worm Has Turned
LegionPerseus VeilRegistered User, Moderator, Penny Arcade Staff, Vanilla Staff vanilla
The Worm Has Turned
http://trenchescomic.com/comic/post/the-worm-has-turned
No, the Real Gaming Expert
AnonymousI worked as the media supervisor at a large electronics corporation. Being “media,” gaming naturally fell under my control and, being a “gamer”, this was my favorite place to go and help customers. I played a wide variety of games from Pokemon on my DS lite to lengthy online matches of Halo with all my retail buddies.
Oh, and did I mention I’m a girl?
People seemed to get hung up on that fact a lot. Generally it involves a surprised look or comment of “You play COD? Can you talk to my girlfriend?” but nothing too bad. One time in particular though always stands out in my mind when people ask me to share a unique story of my gaming retail experience.
It was the holiday season and we were packed (of course). I was traveling from aisle to aisle making suggestions to relatives and significant others as to what to get their loved ones for their gaming
consoles. I approach one middle aged gentleman and ask him if there was anything he needed.“Yes,” He replies, giving me a quick once over. “I have two 16 year old sons and I need help picking out a video game for them.”
“Oh, that’s great. There are a lot of really great titles that came out this year that I’m sure they’ll love.”
He seems genuinely confused at this point and states. “I don’t think you understand. They are 16 year old boys. They don’t play the games you play.”
I see exactly where this is going and merely smile. “Oh, no, I’m the gaming expert here. I actually play a wide variety of different titles, mostly FPS’s and RPG’s. I’m sure we can find something to suit your sons.”
The man stares at me for a moment and then turns around to grab the nearest guy he can find, who happens to be one of my employees walking past the aisle we were in.
“Excuse me sir, can you lead me to your gaming expert?” The gentleman asks.
My employee looks at him quizzically and then looks at me. He then says, “sure, no problem, right this way.” He leads the gentleman out one side of the aisle we were standing in around to the side, ending up directly in front of me.
“This is Quinn, our media supervisor and gaming expert. She is probably one of the most hardcore players I’ve ever met and knows more about video games than anyone else in the store. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
That is why I worked there. Despite all the bulls**t on a weekly and sometimes even daily basis I had to put up with, I had over fifty brothers who had my back. Whether it was cheering me on during a Halo “killing spree” or politely telling a guy he was being a dick, they were always there for me. It’s why I have hope for the gaming industry. If every guy just had a sister to relate to, I’m pretty sure we would end up with more awesome big brothers and less trolls.
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Also, good for Quinn in getting a job like that. Most work bullshit can melt away if you like the people you're working with, and the fringe benefit of being able to play games is icing on the cake.
Not sure I would have walked the customer all around the isle, I probably would have just lead him straight to her and said the spiel.
I wish I had a gaming sister. My sister is not a gamer.