The GamerGate in Bay Area Story You DIDN'T Hear

I'm the guy in the low center-left with a teal shirt and green pants.

 A full week ago now, members of the infamous politicized consumerist group, #GamerGate (I practically think of the pound sign as essential, considering how much it does on Twitter), myself included, congregated in the Original Gravity Pub in San Jose, California, to talk about issues in press ethics and about the schism in liberal thought, drink beer, and of course, play some games, like Pokemon and some adult-themed card game whose name escapes me.

It seems to be about building an anime woman harem.

It was overall a successful meetup, if a bit too chaotic to facilitate many close friendships in itself, but unfortunately, it has become notorious to many, because at some point in the event,  the prominent and controversial GamerGate member, Slade Vilena, tweeted a mocking threat to Randi Harper.  Since creating a module for the Blockbot, used to target, smear and potentially blacklist people associated with GamerGate, Randi Harper has become one of GamerGate's most hated foes, but most of us would rather ignore her.

The tweet was a mocking reference to a recent bogus report of GamerGate performing a drive-by shooting in Oakland, which quickly became a running joke for being reported by a man(?) of questionable credibility, at an intersection that didn't exist, and so many involved, probably including Harper, understood there wasn't any real danger.  Unfortunately, because of the months-long narrative by biased media, of GamerGate being a terrorist group, and the potential of such tweets to play GamerGate right into said media's hands, the Bay Area event has been deemed by some as a setback for GamerGate, and much has been said about the mini-scandal.  Rather than adding another redundant voice, I want to relay an uplifting story to offset all the negativity.

Leading up to the event, I was asking around for rides.  This is partially because I don't know my way around San Jose, partially because my phone no longer has room for transport apps, and partially because I don't usually carry cash, so getting bus fair is a bit of a chore for me.  Also, I was hoping to take a trip with other "Gators" to San Francisco.  This became more dire because somehow, I forgot to pack my phone charger.  At the airport, and then, at a little transport hub reached via a free shuttle service to the airport, my phone was nearly dying, and all my hopes hung on a guy I was communicating with on Twitter.  It took an hour of frantic tweet correspondence, but the guy kept to his offer and he and his wife eventually pulled up in their old but well-kept 1990s Toyota sedan.  Then, they were generous enough to drive me to a CVS to get a charger, and even patient when I took too long to find a suitable substitute for Nausene, a medicine I tend to stay stocked on; just in case trouble strikes with upsetting restaurant food.

Charging at last! (Note the colors.)

This man who picked me up was also in communication with another GGINBayArea attendant (really, with all of the attendants, but only a few responded) to go out for pizza.  We were set to search for a good place, but as he took me to my hotel; the second car ride he provided me, his wife in the car got a text.  Her sister had checked into the hospital for some reason, and he resolved that he had to cancel the night's engagement.  If need be, he said he might not come to the official event the next day, either.  So we went our separate ways, and I ate alone that night.

As it turns out, he did show up the next day.  But the amount of his own time and desires this man was willing to sacrifice, both for myself, and then for his wife and sister-in-law, inspired me, and I felt I just had to share it; especially in light of the more negative side of the event that got so much publicity. (In fact, I wish I had gotten around to it sooner.)  It flies in the face of the narrative that GamerGate (or, even worse, just the video gamer community in general) is comprised of selfish men with a disdain towards women and their interests, and we owe a salute to this Gator who demonstrated one of the best faces yet for the group.  It has been said that people get accused of murder on the front page, and acquitted of murder on the backpage.  I hope to tilt that balance.