Escape
watching telly for hours on end, reading cheap trashy novels, knokcing a little white ball up a field with a stick, are all normal and acceptable(ish) ways in which people relax and escape from everyday life. but when a grown man plays a computer game and visits an online forum where he can chill with people who share the common interest it's seen as slightly childish and odd.
nobody has actually said anything to me of late and i seriously doubt i'd care if they did, but i do notice a look people throw me when the find out i'd rather spend my time off work playing freelancer than playing golf. they seem to pause while waiting for me to explain my peculiar behaviour.
"My sig is in the post but the man in the shop promised I will find it witty and topical when it arrives."