THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

FIRST PERSON SHOOTER

 JOHANN WAGENER 1-28-13

That pretty much says it all about the “game” you’re going to play.

You, my friend, are the “shooter”! All you have to do is plunk yourself down, grab your ‘joy” stick (not sure how it got its name) which magically transforms on your HD/3-D screen into a real live looking weapon of mass destruction, and then, all you have to do is squeeze the trigger and all hell breaks loose.  Burly looking monsters, gigantic bugs and spiders, ferocious man eating beasts twice the size as the real ones, and then, of course, the people, that, usually look a little more the real thing.  Meaner looking? Maybe. But there has to be a way of separating the “good” guys from the “bad” ones.

So, now what you get to do is practice; how to aim, shoot, and kill whatever is coming at you. “Stand your ground”! The better you become at dropping these “real-life” looking monsters and virtual humans, the higher the numbers get on the scoreboard, the more the bells ring, and  more cheers blast out of your “real life” 10-speaker surround sound system.

After a while you might get bored; same images, popping out from behind the same walls, you don’t even need to aim any more. Not to worry, there’s plenty more of these “games” where that one came from. All you need to do is go to Game Stop or click on Amazon, pull out your credit card and off you go. This is a multi-billion dollar industry that buys the best talent to create the best games that can best hook you into living a good part of your life (up to 8 hrs or more a day for some) living in “virtual” reality. Hell, between 8 hrs of sleep where you can live in dreams, plus 8 hrs of living in a virtual world, there’s not much time left learn how to live and cope in the real world. 

This scenario plays out in millions of homes across this country. Statistically, it’s logical to assume that some of the individuals playing these games might be disturbed. Angry at someone(s), being mistreated by others, having their hearts broken; you know, just living a regular life. Problem is some of us just don’t cope with life as well as others and life takes on a different meaning. It’s painful, hopeless, useless, and worthless, so why go on living?

So, some of these lost souls might think to themselves; I am good at some things. Take, for example, how, with years of practice, I was able to ace any “first person shooter” I sat down in front of. 

So why not say goodbye the best way I can?