LEAVING REVIEWS FOR COMIC & GAMING SHOPS
AMBER LOVE 22-DEC-2016 This site is supported through tips at Patreon.com/amberunmasked. Consider adding to the monthly support.
GUNS IN COMIC SHOPS?
The first part of this story addresses a seriously hot button issue, the right to bear to arms. We all get it. Lawful citizens have a particular right to own guns within the limitations of their state of residency. Your right to bear arms, just like my right to marry whoever I want, is challenged at the local business level these days. I saw the following review posted on the Facebook page of a comic and gaming shop in Virginia where I happened to know some of the staff:
This gentleman left a 1-star review and then engaged when another customer questioned why on earth he felt the need to bring a firearm into a comic shop. The shop made one post thanking the person for their time and expressing they’re sorry to lose the business, but the bottom line is they don’t allow guns in their store.
If the current atmosphere of the US Congress, Senate, and Presidency are that businesses should be allowed to deny service to people who conflict with the shop owners’ personal beliefs (like making a wedding cake for a same-sex couple or allowing transgender people into the bathroom), then why wouldn’t it be expected that business owners can deny service to customers with loaded guns?
RAPISTS WANTING TO PLAY MAGIC THE GATHERING?
Through the grapevine of people of who work in comic and gaming shops, I heard another story related to the same shop that was berated by the gun owner guy mentioned above. Hearsay and drama have no legal standing, but slander and liable do (just in case you were wondering). I can’t verify the story other than what I was told through this grapevine.
A known convicted rapist in the Richmond, Virginia area was also a well-ranked MTG player. Once out of jail, he was forbidden from entering officially sanctioned Wizards of the Coast tournaments per their rules. However, some shops allow unofficial games. This shop in question is NOT one of them. All their games are registered for players to work on their rank. The rapist would not be allowed to play at this shop. He never even tried as far as I know. Yet, a bunch of his friends learned this and decided to flood the shop’s Facebook page with 1-star bad reviews. They came within a 24-hour period. The shop’s rating prior was stellar.
CAN YOU BELIEVE REVIEWS?
If you’re like me and read through Snopes, when you hear an outrageous story you know some things to look for. Hearsay is troublesome. However, I learned about this from a friend who works at this shop. I went to the Facebook page and saw the bad ratings piled up. Ratings in that specific amount of time tell me something – one person got pissed and asked friends to dogpile.
I’m all for leaving honest yet bad reviews. I have done it myself. People lie, as the great Dr. House used to say. Something that I’ve learned from reviewing books and comics is that constructive criticism is not the same thing as shitty reviews. Constructive criticism of a shop could be something like: “I was annoyed that the staff only talked to my boyfriend and not me; if they want women to shop here maybe they could train their staff how to address everyone and even consider fun things like a ladies’ night or top picks for female fans list.”
Personally, I don’t know any shop owner that would want a convicted sex offender or someone carrying a gun in their shops. If everyone had to follow basic codes of conduct (no shoes, no shirt, no service) the shop keepers have every right to add “no guns” and “no rapists” to that list.
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.