A DS Tale

So it's no secret that I love my DS. And, it's no secret that a lot of gamers today are older than 12. So, I was very perplexed during a recent business trip.

I start out at airport security. I carry my DS in a case, so it goes through the conveyor. The TSA agent at the far end say, "DS hunh? Nice!" So, I'm feeling kinda hip as I go to my terminal. While waiting for my plane, I pull out the DS for some Tetris. Lots of other business drones are on their crackberrys and their Treos and what have you. One sitting near me asks, "if you don't mind, can I ask what you've got there?" I say, "It's a DS." He looks puzzled, so I say it's a Nintendo DS Lite. Nothing. Then he says, "Nintendo?" I say yes, and explain it is a game machine. He looks at me like I just suggested we raise the minimum wage and goes back to his Crackberry.

I shrug and don't think much of it, until it happens again on the plane. The guy next to me says, "hey, that plays some good looking games, what is it?" I tell him a DS Lite. He doesn't know what I am talking about either. He asks if it's like a Treo, and I say no, it just plays games. He loses total interest and goes back to his newspaper.

Now the one bright spot on the flight. The flight Attendant asks me what I am using. I tell her it's a Nintendo DS Lite, which is a game machine (I'm learning to spell it out better by now). She says, "Cool, I've never seen one of those before." Never seen one? A Flight Attendant? Can I be the only traveller using a DS Lite?  At least she thinks it's cool.

This scenario repeats itself a few more times at the office, in restaurants and on the return trip. If you were paying attention, you might be wondering why I had it out at the office. I played it during my meeting's breaks, while others were checking e-mail, networking with people they didn't know, and trying to flirt with people they were never gonna GET to know.

The last time I checked, Nintendo sold more than 3 DS Lites. Am I really the only businessman in America who travels with one?

Anyway, let me say that having the DS along was fantastic. Tetris rocks.