I Game, She Watches

I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow. We're spending a week in the Alps: fresh air, beautiful scenery, exercise, and far away from work. And of all those things what's got me most excited? They have a wireless LAN in the hotel. What have I turned into? Yeah, I'm maybe getting a little too nerdy.

Mrs. Murid doesn't share that excitement. She's not a big fan of technology, and even less intrigued with gaming. She tolerates it, and she has even picked up a controller when there is an old-school arcade game to be had, but otherwise she avoids it. When we got broadband here on embassy compound and the units were wired, four or five of would get together to play Halo 2. She told one of her uninitiated friends in front of me, "They are all 40 years old playing these games."

"You mean they get together at somebody's house and play?" asked friend.

"No, they each sit in their own houses and play and talk over microphones. I was upstairs in bed and I heard him talking but there was nobody in the house. There he was sitting there talking to somebody on this thing." She couldn't believe it. Still doesn't.

Well, what's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing.

She shook her head when I came home with a 360. I got a deal too good to leave it in the store. MicroCenter had a $100 rebate, so I bought and carried it all the way back from Washington to Moscow. I told her some bastard put it in my cart when I wasn't looking, and I accidentally paid for it. The store wouldn't take it back. She didn't believe that either.

She's coming around though, if for reasons other than the games. I did a slide show of pictures of our daughters growing up, and then I downloaded a movie. Now she's telling her friends, "Hey you know what we can do with that Xbox 360?"

But I guess there's a little nerd in all of us.