Last night I went to a bizarrely large building that’s devoted to (mostly) adults having fun. Those of you who know me are aware that I’m generally against fun, so you may be wondering how this occurred. Those of you who know me are also aware that I have maintained what is practically a policy against video and computer games of any kind, so you may be doubly surprised to hear that I spent part of my time there using a plastic gun to shoot zombies on a screen, and quite enjoyed it.
How exactly did a nice non-hedonistic girl with a fear of new things end up in a place like this?
Honestly, I think it’s because I was with someone who didn’t know me. This makes a third episode since May where someone I only barely knew made a suggestion for an activity that folks who know me have been trained to never suggest… and then I didn’t act out my usual automatic rejection of a new idea, because there weren’t any expectations that I would. That’s also how I ended up hiking 10 miles into the Grand Canyon two years ago: a person who didn’t know me very well thought it would be fun and I decided to see what happened.
I’ve always thought of entrenched behavior patterns as a risk of romantic relationships, but apparently they’re everywhere. So I just found my first New Year’s Resolution for 2004: “Spend more time with strangers.” Oh, wait, maybe it’s actually “Try new things.” Either way, might as well shake it up a bit. The worst that can happen (probably) is that I end up camping two nights in the Grand Canyon.
My final comment: it is so unfair that you lose points for shooting civilians. Everyone knows that they’re probably infected already and will become zombies in short order – it’s a public health measure to eliminate them.