On How My Lady Parts Have Nothing To Do With My Employment

I'm going to start off this post with a little bit about myself.

I'm a computer technician. I started working with computers in 1994 in Germany at AAFES (Army and Airforce Exchange Service). Since then I have worked at a Fortune 500 company, a national computer sales/repair franchise, and, currently, at a small family owned computer store.

Attitudes towards women technicians have changed a lot since I started, and in my opinion they've changed for the better. When I started at the Fortune 500 company only 10% of the technicians were women, and now that number is closer to 30%. We are making strides forward in the corporate environment.

The small locally owned business environment though... that one can be a little tricky.

I left my last job because I have health issues. I have my current job because I was lucky enough to know the manager of my Friendly Local Computer Store (FLCS). He hired me part time, and I am so grateful to him. Because of him I feel like I'm still contributing to my family. I get out of the house. I get to talk to people. I get to work with computers. I love my job and I love all my co-workers.

When I first started working at the FLCS I dyed my hair to cover the gray, and I was routinely asked if the manager of the store was my husband/boyfriend. Since I got tired of explaining how old I am, I decided to let my hair go grey. And now, I'm routinely asked if my coworkers are my children.

Now, if I was a certain type of Feminist Social Justice Warrior, I would spin this to mean that the people asking these questions were implying that the only possible way a woman could get a job as a technician was through her vagina: either letting someone in or pushing someone out.  

That isn't my thought process. My thought process is that these people are not malicious, instead they are all well meaning and just want to indulge in some harmless gossip. So I laugh and say no, we're not related. And then I get on with my life.

It's all about putting things into perspective, most people don't realize that their words can be spun into something malicious, so don't judge them harshly. And I believe we have to keep this perspective in everything we do, even #GamerGate and #NotYourShield.

Why I Identify As A Gamer

To paraphrase my favorite pirate movie: 

• Are you putting [writing] down that I'm a Gamer? Good! Because I am! I have sought pleasure and profit all my life in games without regard for any man's disapproval

I identify as a gamer because I've been playing games ever since I became aware of them. My gaming started with the Atari 2600. Frogger, PacMan, Space Invaders, Tank, Breakout. As I got older and bought my own consoles I was a Sega girl, but I did have a Game Boy for the times when I couldn't be near a TV set, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was my game of Choice.

Then I got my first computer and I discovered Sid Meier. Pirates, Covert Action, Civilization. I lost whole weekends to these games. And then Warcraft: Orcs vs Humans. My love affair with Blizzard and Azaroth began.

So, yes, I'm a gamer because I love games. I love playing them. I love reading about them. I love talking about them. They are my hobby of choice and I'm proud to say I am a gamer.
I'd like to close with an update of a post I did in 2007 -

"Will You Regret Playing Games When You Are Old?"
What could I be doing instead of gaming? Let's see.... What did I do before?

I read. I painted. I designed quilts. I went out with friends. I watched television. I wrote poetry. I dabbled with computer games. I had a full life. 

Then, the person I considered to be my touch stone died and my life changed. 

On the days I worked I would wake up, force myself out of bed, take a shower, go to work, come home and collapse into bed until the next morning. 

On my days off I laid in bed and watched birds in the birdfeeders and birdbath all day, until the sun started to set and the fireflies came out. And then I would go to sleep. There were whole weekends where I didn't get out of bed. 

I went on anti-depressants. 

I went off anti-depressants.

I was a zombie.

This went on for months and months. 

Finally, one of my friends convinced me to try a new game called World of Warcraft. 

And... I started to wake up. I had something to look forward to every day. 

I started going out again with friends who also played WoW. I started taking classes and meeting people and having fun again. I started smiling more. I started being me again. 

So, no... I will never regret WoW. I will never regret The Sims. I will never regret Portal 2. They brought me back. I recognize myself again. 

What about you? Why do you identify as a gamer?

Hello World! I Guess I'm Picking Up From Where I Was in 2009

I was thinking of starting a new blog so I can articulate my thoughts on #NotYourShield and #GamerGate and I remembered I had a gaming blog from 2006-2009. I found an archive of the blog on The Most Beautiful Computer In The Whole Of The Known Universe (the computer I used from 2006 - 2011 and which is now hooked up to the TV for Netflix).

Here are my favorite quotes from that blog:

• I don't think anyone started treating me differently when they heard my voice. I do get a lot of "How old are you?" because I have a high squeaky voice and sound like a teenager. But, eventually everyone gets over that and we can get on with our questing.
  
  
• "A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction." -Rita Mae Brown
  This quote explains why I prefer to play a Fury Warrior instead of a Prot warrior - I believe (right or wrong) that a Fury Warrior acts and a Prot Warrior reacts.
  
  
• And then there was the "Alton Brown" moment. I had fallen asleep on the couch watching TV and something roused me. I woke up just enough to see an Alton Brown commercial and I remember thinking I needed to attack him, but I couldn't tell if he was flagged or not.
  It took me a few minutes to realize that #1 - Alton Brown is not a member of the Horde and #2 - thank goodness I don't have combat reflexes because I would hate to have to buy Chris a new television.
  
  
•  I have interests in life other than gaming (honestly - I do!) . One of my lifelong passions has been poetry. I blame AA Milne.
  
  
•  I detest that book. I am so rabidly anti-that book that when asked for my opinion on the book I went on a rant that lasted several minutes (not days as some people like to exaggerate). The person I was ranting to made the comment that they hadn't seen me this worked up since Dawn was introduced on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (I would like to go on record that it wasn't Dawn's introduction. If you follow the Buffy example I haven't been this upset since my run in with David Fury. )
  
  
•  Today someone told me that gaming is not an interesting hobby because there are no 'real life consequences'. 
  Who are these people and why do they talk to me?