Adulthood

Do age and experience an adult make? Experience, yes. Age, I'm thinking no. I just had a meeting for which I prepared a list of itemized questions and printed out a reference document. The older men were cutting up, laughing, and joking. One got up and left to go get a free cookie. Now, none of this bothers me, I think its great that people in an office setting can maintain their spirits, especially in this kind of business climate. The thing that gets me is that the following thought almost stopped me mid-step on the way back to my desk.

My time raiding in World of Warcraft has prepared me to have fun and mess around until that scheduled time, then its business (raid) time. I stay focused, diligently get through what is needed, then after all is said and done, I can allow myself to relax and hang out again...
RAIDING has made me an effective participant in meetings!

And I've noticed other things that have helped me in the office jungle that are strange to say out loud:

• 3.5 Edition character sheets make time sheets seem simple. Note: Dwarf character sheets still scare me.
  
• Having ran several small raiding guilds, I already have experience scheduling meeting times that best fit everyone's schedule. Note: There will always be someone from the East coast and someone from the West coast, and both will want to raid at 8pm their time...
  
• Remembering requirements for projects is almost identical to keeping track of my remaining prerequisites before I get to take up a prestige class. Note: I always feel guilty dumping a level into sorcerer on a fighter, but a breath weapon is always a good decision.
  
• Deadlines turn a project into a timed quest.
  
• Grinding rep has taught me not to attack members of the rep faction I'm grinding with. Note: No AoEs in or near your cubical please.
  
• The customer, manager, employee dynamic is a lot like the developer, dungeon master, player dynamic. The developer tells us how they think we should play it, the dungeon master makes up house rules to try and make that suggestion work, and the player decides not to enter the cave, but instead find the nearest tavern and drink. Note: I think I forgot to wrap up that metaphor.
  

I'm pretty sure that I could have simply played video games in the presence of other gamers for four years and be as prepared for the workplace as I am now. That being said, I have made great use of what I learned in technical writing classes, so don't fully discount that college place.