The Road To Nerdtopia
Jay Cadmus
Communications professional, least-selling author, U.S. Patent holder, world's okayest bass player, vegan free, non-NGO, carton neutral, pro transplant.
I took my son and his buddies to NYC Comic Con for his 18th birthday. It was nuts.
The Javits Center was mobbed when we arrived and got more packed as the day went on. The event comprised every genre and sub-genre of fantasy, anime, superheroes and sci fi imaginable.
Most attendees were in costume. We saw dragons, gargoyles, vampires, space queens, warlords and Wookies. It’s probably the only place where you can see Captain America, Darth Vader and Hello Kitty having lunch together.
What amazed me was that as jammed as the event was, everyone was nice. Everyone was polite. Everyone was friendly.
“Hey, can Yellow Power Ranger get a photo with Red and Green Power Rangers?” “Sure.”
“Whoa, nice chainsaw.” “Thanks, I made it myself.”
“Doc Brown! Did you bring the DeLorean?” “Yeah, I just can’t remember WHEN I left it.”
“Can you tell me where the bathrooms are?” “Up this aisle, just past the Millennium Falcon, on the left.”
Everyone cooperated. People stood patiently on line. They moved through the show halls in an orderly way. There was no pushing or shoving. If someone bumped into you, they said “Excuse me.”
It’s incredible that an event so busy and diverse, attended by 200,000 people, could be so harmonious.
There’s probably a lesson in there somewhere.
(Archving this post as an article)