Noob at RL

Yesterday I did something new; something for the first time ever.  I met someone in real life who I’d initially met online.  And guess what, guys.  I didn’t end up dead in an alleyway!  I even had fun, and stuff.

A couple weeks ago I found out that Algie, as I know her from WoW, had an overnight layover at SFO on her way home to Hong Kong.  We decided we should meet up and get coffee or something equally cliché.

So I met her at the airport for brunch before her flight.  One long BART trip and a confusing SFO AirTrain ride later, I arrived at the International terminal of San Francisco International Airport.*

I think my favorite moment of the morning was when I stepped off the off tram and we made skeptical eye contact across the platform.  And then started grinning like idiots.  Here’s a glimpse inside our heads for the initial meeting: 

Are you the person I think you are?  You seem to be the person I think you are.  *cautious wave*  Okay, yes, person I’m looking for.  Alright, walking towards one another.  …Nothing wrong so far.  Closer.  Closer.  Closer.  *pause*  You ARE the person I think you are!  *enormous cheesy grin*  Yaaaaaaaaay!

And because most of my past experiences with people I’ve met and come to be friends with online have turned into creepy online stalker situations, I also had this running through my brain simultaneously:

Okay, meeting a person from the internet.  I’m not going to die.  I’m not going to die.  I’m not going to die.  Are you going to do something crazy now, internet person?  Are you one of those psychos from the internet that I’ve heard of who kill people in real life?  …You seem to be relatively normal.  Okay, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt about not being completely crazy.  …So maybe you are as cool in person as you are online.  I’m not going to die.  Yaaaaaaaaay!

So altogether, here’s what the inside of my head looked like yesterday morning:

Okay, meeting a person from the internet.  I’m not going to die.  Are you the person I think you are?  I’m not going to die.  You seem to be the person I think you are.  I’m not going to die.  *cautious wave*  Okay, yes, person I’m looking for.  Are you going to do something crazy now, internet person?  Are you one of those psychos from the internet that I’ve heard of who kill people in real life?  Alright, walking towards one another.  …You seem to be relatively normal.  …Nothing wrong so far.  Okay, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt about not being completely crazy.  Closer.  Closer.  Closer.  …So maybe you are as cool in person as you are online.  *pause*  You ARE the person I think you are!  *enormous cheesy grin*  Yaaaaaaaaay!  I’m not going to die.  Yaaaaaaaaay!

After that, it was pretty much just me eating a sandwich (but not just any sandwich; a $9 grilled ham and cheese… because airports are delusional about the value of their food) and us talking about various stuff.  Yes, various stuff.  I was so proud of us.  Although we spent a fair amount of time talking about World of Warcraft, it was not the ONLY thing we talked about.  We talked about school, airport security, and the classy lobster sheets on the guest bed at my house.

We also talked how unfair it is that it’s perfectly acceptable for babies to get away with inappropriate behavior because they’re cute, but it’s not okay for a woman to get away with inappropriate behavior because she’s cute.

Oh!  And she brought me a present!

One day, when I have a home office/game room and a bookshelf, this will live on the bookshelf in my home office/game room.

 

So Algie has a face now.  A real face that I’ve actually seen.  She’s not just OMG Over-geared Hattie, One Hundred Million DPS Dealer anymore.  Now she’s Algie, player of OMG Over-geared Hattie, One Hundred Million DPS Dealer who keeps her phone in something that looks like a tiny sock, has really big headphones, and is much shorter than I thought she would be.  Yay real life!

I should do this more often.

Hey Jess, when’s the next time you’re flying through SFO?

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 *As a side note:  I think meeting at the airport was a really good idea.  Crowded?  Yes.  Kind of expensive?  Yes.  But when meeting online friends for the first time in real life, there’s not many other places where you KNOW they aren’t hiding bombs in their shoes.