Being a computer nerd, I sit behind this screen, masking myself to the online world. Everyone knows me by the way I type, the comebacks (or lack thereof) that I make when they attempt to insult me, and how I carry a conversation with text being the only means of speaking. If you were to see me out in the real world, you wouldn’t know me from Adam. But online, you know everything, probably right down to my personality and demeanor. The interesting thing is when you go from being online to being present in someone’s life, it all changes. This is called the OP (online people) -> RP (real life people) transition. It’s an odd one, one that I learned really quickly, but still feel awkward when having to do it. It all started when I went to my first MSURacers.com event. I had gotten to know and hate alot of the people that I found on there, but when I finally got to meet them physically, I just realized that most of them had huge e-cocks and wanted to strut around. Except for a couple, who brought their e-cock to the table with them. I met a person from on there right before Christmas break, and even though we had great conversations while talking on AIM, since we met in real life, she has almost nothing to say in either place any more. And now that I am on larger forums, where the membership is nation- or global- wide, and I’m working on meeting people IRL (in real life), it’s scary to think that this person that you’ve been talking to online for so much time is actually going to see you in the flesh. I know I’m scared about my impending trip to go see Laura D., because she’ll probably take one look at me and be all like “WTF is this loser’s deal?” . And from OffTopic, I plan on going to their next “meat” (their word for a meeting), just to converse with some of the nutjobs that I see on there. It’ll all be different, and it all challenges the way I am in dealing with other people. But, it’s a different and cool experience. And, I’m putting up the challenge, if you don’t know me except for on here, come and see me where I sit here in Murray, KY. You’ll definitely be interested by the results. of your OP -> RP transition.
Footnote 1: Ryan Perry != Real People