Random encounters with fellow soldiers

The Underground
#1

Hello,

I had a little story that I wanted to just post in a chatty thread, but then I figured it’d be more fun to make it into a thread and let others share similar stories. I’m sure some people have them!

Maybe “soldiers” in the title is a strong term; it doesn’t necessarily have to be about people who are like massive fans, but just interesting encounters with LP fans that happen randomly. I doubt my story involves someone who would be on this forum, for instance.

Anyways, I will be moving into a new apartment within 2 weeks, and the landlord asked me to make photocopies of the contract to send to him. He insisted on me making photocopies with a printer (rather than taking good pics), so I had to take it to an internet cafe to get it scanned. While I was there I was looking at the prices and it said “Scanning: 1 euro” which I found out meant per page. So my 19-page contract would cost me 19 euros, just for a simple scan. Given that I was already feeling depressed going into the place, that knowledge sure didn’t do my mood any favours.

While I was waiting for the document to go through the scanner, the guy working there clearly noticed my tattoo because he asked “Linkin Park fan?”. From what I’ve gathered, Ireland doesn’t have a big LP fanbase, so I was pretty surprised that he noticed a small tattoo from the opposite side. In response I just said yes, and told him I had gone to see Mike last March. Barely any conversation about it besides that, but still there were some good vibes. Then when I was ready to pay, having surrendered to the fact that I was gonna have to lay down 19 euros for a 30-second scan, he was like thinking about it for a moment and made it clear he was not gonna charge me that. I was thinking he was just going to punch off a few euros, but he only charged me 5 euro for the whole contract.

I’m not sure if the short LP conversation had anything to do with him reducing the price, though I like to think it did, or at least the vibes he got from it because he said something about me seeming nice (even though I wasn’t happy while I was there). Anyways, that encounter overall and the nice gesture sure made me feel better by the time I walked out of the place than when I’d come in.

Anyone else got stories about randomly encountering an LP fan in daily life?

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#2

That’s so nice!! I hope it made your day a bit better. And yay for the new apartment! :slight_smile: (Does That mean you’re staying in Ireland a bit longer?)

Back in Greece, I can’t say I did. I only knew the fans from the Greek fan site, we went out a couple of times and eventually one of them is now my best friend (we went to the same uni too, etc etc).

Here in the UK, I’ve had a few random encounters (besides meeting Rob and everyone else) with people on the street. I tend to wave or give them thumbs up if they wear LP gear. Once, one of them, just came over and gave me a hug and told me we will be ok, one day at a time. I thought it was pretty sweet of them.
In general, I’m glad this fanbase is super nice, haven’t met or heard of anybody otherwise.

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#3

The only “random” encounters I have are the ones I orchestrate and make seem ramdom, because deep down, I’m actually a stalker. :joy:

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#4

It does, yea. I signed on a 6-month contract so I’ll be stuck here until January, which is gonna suck if I don’t get the new job now :V

That’s awesome!

How do you do this??

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#5

Google is your friend. :joy:

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#6

I’ll keep my fingers crossed and send good vibes!

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#7

Good luck for the job!
I like your story! :heart_eyes:
@evooba too, nice vibes from your post!

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#8

Walked up and down the street today. Had my LP t-shirt on… No LP fans attracted :rofl:

In fact, I don’t know any LP fan in person. But it’s nice to read your stories.

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#9

l didn’t get stories about randomly encountering an LP fan in daily life.But l did get one about randomly a Taylor fan in NY.The girl liked Taylor as much as I did, because we were all standing in front of the store listening to Taylor’s songs playing in the street.Then I met her again on the bus .Awfully I forgot to bring the change, But luckily she helped me in time! That’s so nice!

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#10

Most of my encounters have been online through Discord, since my profile photo is this kinda funny photo of Chester. Two stick out to me.

  1. A freshman girl at my school noticed I had a Linkin Park bracelet, and we both got super excited when we realized we were both LP soldiers. We became friends fast, and she became my buddy in PE. I had only met one other minor fan in real life, and she hadn’t met anybody, so it was an awesome experience. We loved showing off merch to each other.
  2. Someone on Discord noticed my profile photo, and we got into a discussion on Linkin Park. He talked about how he’d gotten into them and even made his own band based off them once in high school. I don’t remember how long we talked for, but it felt good to be able to relate to someone musically.
    I really wish I got to meet soldiers in real life more often, but I don’t live in that big of a place, and most of the kids in my school only like one genre of music. I guess that’s what makes the moments stand out more, though.
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#11

Nice!

The guy in my OP story was not the only one who’s commented on it, but I usually just have minor encounters. After I got my LP tattoo I’ve had several people comment on it, though they’re almost never fans, just people who knew some songs by LP. What’s nice is that they’ll tell me about how they related to the songs at a point in their lives. Even if I’m not meeting a lot of fans, the tattoo has definitely been helping me connect to some people who can share a few experiences with me.

I’ve not been able to make a friend like you have off of that connection (outside this forum and Mike’s concert that is; I mean one that occurs randomly). Hope it will still happen at some point

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#12

Such a wonderful and heartwarming thread!

I hope things have settled a bit for you @evowarrior5. Sorry you are going through a rough time. I’m also keeping my fingers crossed for you.

We don’t have many fans here, but I did have an encounter when I was in the UK. I was at The Works (art/ bookstore), wearing a Linkin Park hoodie. Turns out the guy behind the counter was a LP fan. We had a conversation about them for a little while, and how much we miss Chester. Turns out he was a part of the LPU a while ago. It was simple, but really brightened my day. This fanbase is amazing.

I also met someone when I went to get a photo printed in Bangkok. I was wearing the t-shirt from the show. A guy wearing the same t-shirt walked in to the store. I told him ‘nice t-shirt’. And we spoke a bit about the show.

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#13

Lol. I wear one of my Linkin Park shirts at least once every 3 to 4 days but have yet to meet another soldier in person. I have received many compliments on the designs and symbols on the shirts and people have asked what they are or what they mean, so I tell them. But unfortunately nobody has introduced themselves to me as a LP fan.

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#14

There’s someone I’ve seen a few times while working that has a Linkin Park logo tattoo, the one with the piece missing to signify Chester’s passing. I’ve want to say something but it’s always like a 2 second encounter and I don’t want to seem like a creep, especially on the job

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#15

:heart_eyes: you’re not creep! Just say “nice tattoo!”, I’m sure he/she will be happy :blush: :grin:

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