Bug

"We’ve all felt the sting of societal stigma associated with our passions, and we know what it feels like to be persecuted (and I use the term loosely, of course) for what we love.
That is, in essence, what makes us nerds, or geeks, or dweebs, or dorks. It’s not the specifics of what we geek out about – it’s the feelings we have for that thing, the passion and love we have for what we enjoy, and the fact that we aren’t ashamed of those feelings. Walk into any comic shop, and speak with one of the employees about what books they like. Walk into a hobby shop and ask the guy behind the counter what he’s building these days. Go into a Game Stop and pick up a conversation about the newest releases for your console, or go into a Magic shop and ask the guys about Innistrad. The one thing that they all have in common is passion. It’s the reason we can watch Starcraft videos by Day9, not have a damn clue what he’s talking about, and still listen intently and appreciate just how intense his emotional connection is with that game – we relate because we understand, and with that understanding comes appreciation.

Passion begets interest. We may not know the game, but we know the feeling.

Why then, is that so much different than walking into a car detailing shop, and talking with the mechanics about classic cars? Or going into a sports bar and chatting about last week’s game?

Spoiler alert: it’s not. The difference is only the subject matter. To us. To those of us that understand that type of emotional investment into abstract material. To the rest of the world, they see that passion as a way to gain interest and money, and they use it much like the beer companies of the world use sex – as a means to access our paychecks.
“Normals” don’t get why we’re so interested in the things we like. They don’t get why we can spend hours upon hours sitting in conference centers, or kitchen tables, or game stores playing a card game that looks boring or silly to them. They think we sit there, pretending to be wizards, casting spells on our opponent and making believe. They don’t understand the drive and the competition of the game, or the world-building, or the intricacies and nuances of play, or the allure of the perfectly tuned deck. They don’t understand the way that the game wraps you up and keeps you safe, during all the times when things are going wrong; how it’s the one thing that allows you to feel normal in a world that doesn’t make sense. How when everything else in your life is spinning out of control, and you feel like the world is crumbling around you, the game allows you to take your mind off of everything – to escape into something pure, and forget about all of your problems for a while. The rest of the people you know, the best of the people you know all “get it,” and accept who you are as you are – because of the game."
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http://gizmodo.com/5833787/my-brief-okcupid-affair-with-a-world-champion-magic-the-gathering-player