Ageism at Gen Con 1996

My unusual article describes my rude, offensive, and oppressive encounter with age discrimination.

 

Reader discretion is advised.

 

Twenty-seven years ago, on a Friday at Gen Con, I was happily walking from one gaming seminar to another.  I was taking in the sights and sounds of a major gaming convention, when a repulsive encounter happened to me.  A young woman (late teens or early twenties) stepped in front of me.  I stopped, not knowing what to do at that moment.

 

In a rather loud voice, she asked me, “What are you doing here?”

 

My reply was something like, “I’m attending Gen Con, just like you.”

 

She replied, “You are not supposed to be here.  This convention is only for us young people.”

 

Startled, I replied, “There is no age limit at Gen Con.”

 

She replied, “Go back home, this convention is for us, not you.”

 

While she was being crass and disrespectful to me; I didn’t want this impromptu, verbal confrontation to escalate.  Thus, I turned around to find another way to get to my next convention event.  Thankfully, I never saw her again.

 

27 years later, in 2023, I wonder if she will no longer attend Gen Con.  Because, according to her rules that only exist in her prejudiced mind, she would now be too old to have fun at Gen Con anymore.  If I ever see her again, she owes me a sincere apology for her ageism.

 

This is in strong contrast to a much more pleasant encounter that happened to me during the MLP-MSP F convention in 2019.  After the convention panel ended, I got up from my seat.  A different young woman appeared before me, and then thanked me for coming to MLP-MSP F.  She said that her parents had come to this convention with her.  Because I was in attendance, they didn’t feel like they were the only people in their age group to be attending this convention.  I felt happy about making her and her parents feel good about attending MLP-MSP F.