Dear Fimfiction · 10:33am Dec 27th, 2014
If you ever find yourself in a situation like this as #2, or as a bystander, slap some sense into the hipster idiot who is more concerned wih proving his hipster cred than he is with actually being a decent person.
(It’s my day off so I go to the toy shop where I work with my eight-year-old niece. She’s a huge fan of ‘My Little Pony,’ so we’re off looking at toys. Two men are already there, talking about the show. My niece is pretty social, so she tries to strike up a conversation while I eye the display.)
Niece: “Ooh, you like My Little Pony, too?! Who’s your favourite? I love Fluttershy; she’s so pretty and kind. That’s how I want to be when I grow up.”
Man #1: “You’re a fan, huh? I guess you’ve got all the merchandise then?”
Niece: “Merch… an… dise?”
Man #2: “The toys and stuff. Don’t you have any?”
Niece: “Oh… yeah! I got some for my birthday!”
Man #1: “So you probably know the names of all the main characters, then?”
Niece: *lists characters*
Man #2: “What about the episode names?”
Niece: “Um…”
Man #1: “Don’t you know them?”
(I’m starting to get quite annoyed.)
Me: “What are you doing?”
(They both give me defensive looks.)
Man #1: “Nothing!”
Man #2: “We just wanted to know if she’s a real fan or one of those fake geek girls.”
Man #1: “She can’t even name the episodes.”
Man #2: “Bet she hasn’t even watched them all.”
(My niece is starting to get upset, so I lose all patience.)
Me:” Are you serious? All it takes to be a fan is for someone to like and enjoy something. Where do you get off acting so smug because you know more about a show for little girls than its intended audience?”
Man #1: “Are you saying men can’t like stuff for girls? That’s sexist!”
Me: “Sexist?! I’m not the one spewing misogynistic nonsense at a child simply because they can’t pass some pointless memory test. You obviously haven’t learned much, since the TV show is all about friendship and treating people with respect! Now, shove off or grow up!”
(They storm off. I turn round to see my manager watching me.)
Me: “Am I fired?”
Manager: “You’re not in uniform; they don’t know you work here. Besides, if someone talked to my kids like that, I’d knock them out.”
(My niece cheered up after a while, and I bought her some new ‘merchandise’. I hope those men went home and watched the show again, and maybe took its message to heart this time.)
(from Notalwaysright)
