(I am reading a Stephen King novel while eating lunch in a food court on my college campus. A staff member I don’t know well sits down near me.)

Staff Member: “Oh, I read that book a while ago! Are you a fan of Stephen King?”

Me: “This is the first book of his I’ve read actually, but I really like it. It’s a page turner.”

Staff Member: “Have you gotten to the part where the child dies yet?”

Me: *suppressing frustrated groan* “No, I haven’t…”

(I am talking with a friend of mine at our live-action role-playing meeting.)

Me: “…so then we were going to do a Ravenloft thing but it never happened.”

Friend: “What’s Ravenloft? Is that another kingdom?”

(Chapters are referred to as shires, baronies, and duchies based on size. Kingdom represents an overseeing organization that handles rules, mundane business details, and other such things for multiple chapters.)

Me: “Umm, no, it’s a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting.”

Friend: “Oh, hmm, I hadn’t heard of it. I don’t play D&D.”

Me: “Really? Do you read fantasy novels?”

Friend: “Not usually.”

Me: “You at least know who Tolkien is, right?”

Friend: “No, what Kingdom is he from?”

Me: “He wrote the Lord of the Rings, which sort of started the whole fantasy genre.”

Friend: “Oh.”

Me: “You mean this is the first fantasy thing you’ve done? You realize, this is near the deep end of geekdom right?”

(Since then he’s gotten heavily geeked out. Most recently, I’ve seen him cosplaying as Bebop from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.)

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(For years I kept my hair long while my twin sister cut it short. Many of our school mates only differentiated us on the basis of our hair length. During the summer I decide to cut my hair so it is almost the same as my sister’s. We are both waiting outside of the classroom for the teacher.)

Classmate: “Do you guys get upset that people can’t tell you apart? You know, since your hair is now the same.”

Sister: “No.”

Me: “Not really.”

Classmate: “Good, because it’s your own god-d*** fault.”

(I am visiting my home town for the holidays. I stop in the local coffee shop for a cup. The girl behind the counter greets me with a stuck out tongue and eye roll, which I assume is aimed at her coworker next to her. I place the order and wait for it to be ready.)

Girl: “So, hey, what’s up?”

Me: “Uh… nothing.”

Girl: “How were your holidays? Mine were kind of boring.”

Me: *confused* “They were okay, thanks?”

Girl: “So, any exciting plans for New Year’s? Wild parties? Friends? Boyfriend?”

Me: “No, just hanging out at home.”

Girl: “That’s cool. I thought I’d spend the day with my boyfriend.”

Me: *very confused* “That sounds nice.”

Girl: “I hope it will be. Oh, here’s your order. It was nice catching up. Have a great day!”

Me: “Uh, you too.”

(I was very unnerved by the girl’s uber-friendliness. It wasn’t until I was back in the car I realized she was one of my sister’s friends and had mistaken me for her! I am still wondering how, as my sister and I bear a strong family resemblance, but our styles differ drastically. I am rather plain, while my sister has multiple piercings and tattoos, wildly dyed hair, and is at least four inches shorter than I am. And she’s nine months pregnant! My sister and I had a good laugh over it, though. And this isn’t the first time this has happened to us…)

(We are all thoroughly engrossed in a card game that is a sort of mockery of dungeon-crawling games, meant to be excessively odd and humorous. In other words, it’s a game to see how much you can troll your friends. Curse-wielder girl plays some kind of curse card that takes away everyone’s armor or clothing gear in the game. Everybody groans except for a guy who is sitting near me, and just grins.)

Curse-Wielder Girl: “Wait, [Guy], shouldn’t you be affected too?”

Guy: “No, he’s not wearing anything but equipped headgear.”

Other Girl: “[Guy]! Why aren’t you wearing clothes?!”

Other Guy: “Because he’s a leprechaun and he does what he wants…”