Pokemon Go: Bringing Us All Together
Anyone with a smart phone spent their weekend crawling all over their respective neighborhoods, trespassing on private property and hastily snapping a shot of the koffing they caught while dropping something even worse smelling on the toilet.
When the concept of Pokemon Go came about, most of the world gleefully anticipated its release with excitement, while others pandered to their peers about all the ways the mobile game would flop for being another typical mobile game. We all expected something kinda good, or something miserable. But little did we know what kind of impact the game would have on our lives. Not even just your average lives, but your social life.
I spent my weekend running all over the Charlotte, North Carolina area with a group of friends. I encountered some rare little critters, got a hell of a lot of exercise, really wished I had applied that extra body spray, and tripped over my shoelace because holy shit there was a lapras nearby.
The game brought me enjoyment in its play, but there was more to it than the simplistic augmented reality creatures popping about every few minutes. The social atmosphere of seeing hundreds of people just like me running around with phones in their hands, smiles on their faces, excited eyes and shining enthusiasm was like nothing I had seen before.
i've always known gaming could bring people together in an online environment, or on the couch for co-op play. But I could never have imagined being able to walk up to perfect strangers of all types of race, clique', gender, age and interest and be doing the same thing all at once. I got phone numbers, facebook friends, group chats and the like from people i had never met before, because we were all racing around like children on a playground again.
Seeing people come together that would otherwise never say a word to each other, be too afraid of social interaction or unwilling to take that first step of saying hello to someone, can all unite under one super nerdy collectathon extravaganza with enthusiasm and happiness...
It's enough to make you smile through the weekend.
I'd love to here you all share your stories of Pokemon Go hunting this weekend. Did you meet new people? Did you find something freaking awesome in some dudes backyard? Did you get your 7th trespassing ticket? Share your story please, and stay safe out there.
And enjoy.
