Gaming. National pasttime or nerds locked in their bedrooms?
It's amusing (I never cease to amuse myself) to me that one of my hobbies is online gaming. As a retired ironworker and old man to many opponents online, I 'look around' and find myself in the middle of many gamers very unlike myself. My nine-year-old son playing seems more suited or typical to the rest of the bunch than I do. It seems to me that instead of FPS games, at my age I should be running through a real woods carrying a paintball gun or something a little more substantial.
But no. A simple, easy escape at any time necessary can be obtained through my cable connection inside my own home. To wind down, to forget, to ignore. Call it what you will, but there is more to it than meets the eye.
I'm in a 'clan.' No hoods or bedsheets involved, the gaming 'clans' are like families that fight other clans online. There is a bonding between people that have never and may never meet. In real life that may seem kind of odd, as some of my best friends I have never met face to face. And to play as a team against other 'teams' builds friendships as you get to know the other members better each time.
Fifteen years ago if you had told me I would be this involved in something as non-physical as this, I would have probably made a substantial bet otherwise. Big, tough ironworkers like to grab and growl, not click and type.
I'm still 6'1, 205 and watch out, I might frag you.....
