Strange Conversations: Part Thirty-Five

This conversation brought to you by an unusual burst of humility on my part.

ME: But it’s outside my alloted role, and there’s a name for people who move outside their alloted role.
NICK: Heroes!
ME: I don’t think so. Beowulf was a hero.
NICK: Yep.
ME: Well, he didn’t move outside his alloted role. He went out and died at the hands—if you’ll excuse the metaphor—of the dragon in the final part of the poem because it was his responsibility as king. Well, it wasn’t his responsibility to die, but it was his role to fight the dragon.
NICK: Right.
ME: So I dispute your definition of the word “hero.”
NICK: Well, in that case, I’m going to play some Diablo.

You just can’t argue with game-bound geeks.