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This morning I was at Costco (which is another rank in and of itself--I love Costco; I particularly love speculating about what other people are buying. Like the guy this morning who bought a 20 foot ladder, a package of dusting cloths, and three gallon containers of Wesson oil). Anyway, after I had showed my receipt to the guy at the door and started away, he stopped me.
"Ma'am? I'm sorry to bother you but...where did you get your button?"
No one is so apologetic as a thirty-something geek who has to ask a fifty-something woman about a pin that she may or may not know is the height of geekish fabulousness. In this case, it was my Watchman pin. If you know from the graphic novel you'll understand this: it's a smiley-face pin with a splash of blood across it--the image from the cover of the first issue of Watchman. I've had the pin since the mid-1980s when the series came out and a limited-edition set of four pins (Rorschach's face, the clock, the smiley face, and the Latin "who watches the Watchmen?" quote) was issued. My roommates and I split the set and I wound up with the smiley. It gets me looks and comments, sometimes unwitting ("Miss? You've got something on your--oh no, wait. Oh. Ew. Never mind.") and sometimes, as today, covetous.
So I explained to the guy where I got it and the fact that the button is something like 20 years old. He looked wistful, but a bit relieved that he didn't have to explain the button to a woman of my age and dignity. "I really like Rorschach," he said. "And the Comedian. They're my favorites." (If you know the book, you'll know that they're two of the darkest, most psychotic of a group of superheroes who are none of them too tightly wrapped. I admire these characters, but I'd think twice about telling a stranger they were my favorites. It's like someone saying "Oh, I just think Hannibal Lecter is adorable, don't you?")
We smiled the secret-handshake smile of geeks and went our ways.
"Ma'am? I'm sorry to bother you but...where did you get your button?"
No one is so apologetic as a thirty-something geek who has to ask a fifty-something woman about a pin that she may or may not know is the height of geekish fabulousness. In this case, it was my Watchman pin. If you know from the graphic novel you'll understand this: it's a smiley-face pin with a splash of blood across it--the image from the cover of the first issue of Watchman. I've had the pin since the mid-1980s when the series came out and a limited-edition set of four pins (Rorschach's face, the clock, the smiley face, and the Latin "who watches the Watchmen?" quote) was issued. My roommates and I split the set and I wound up with the smiley. It gets me looks and comments, sometimes unwitting ("Miss? You've got something on your--oh no, wait. Oh. Ew. Never mind.") and sometimes, as today, covetous.
So I explained to the guy where I got it and the fact that the button is something like 20 years old. He looked wistful, but a bit relieved that he didn't have to explain the button to a woman of my age and dignity. "I really like Rorschach," he said. "And the Comedian. They're my favorites." (If you know the book, you'll know that they're two of the darkest, most psychotic of a group of superheroes who are none of them too tightly wrapped. I admire these characters, but I'd think twice about telling a stranger they were my favorites. It's like someone saying "Oh, I just think Hannibal Lecter is adorable, don't you?")
We smiled the secret-handshake smile of geeks and went our ways.