I think by now that anyone that comes to this site knows that I like Pokemon. I don't mind that others know this and I even brag about it a little at work. Just today I went to the latest Pokemon event where I picked up the 492nd monster in the series, Shaymin. Cute little thing.
However, what this post is about is the latest trend I've been seeing at message boards, particularly at gamefaqs.com since that's where I normally go for my gaming needs. This trend is for a user there to post about how he or she can't be seen playing Pokemon because it would ruin their reputation and asks others to go to the event to get the monster and trade for it later.
Seriously? You're that concerned about what other's think about you that you have to calculate for the presence of a video game? What do you do lock yourself in your room, demand that others knock before they enter, hide under the covers of your bed all the while you keep the volume down on your Nintendo DS so that no one will recognize the Pokemon soundtrack? Are you that insecure?
Personally, I love the posts made by these people. It cracks me up that they are so preoccupied with their "rep" that they actually can’t walk into certain stores or else face total isolation from their "friends."
If these posts are real (and I doubt the truthfulness of most of them) then it's definitely time to start reevaluating just who you're hanging out with. I know peer pressure is a large factor in a teenager's life (the usual age of the poster) but if you can't even enjoy a game, even if that game is largely marketed towards kids, then I can't see you as being all that happy. In fact you're not even doing things for yourself, you're doing it for the people around you. What kind of individuality does that create, huh?
To continue that train of thought, what of the future? Do you see yourself having to change to conform to what others expect of you throughout high school and beyond? Hopefully it wont get that far and by the time you’re out on your own you'll realize just how stupid this has all been. You can't put, "I was the most popular in High School" on a resume and expect it to mean something. Believe me when I say that unless you network through Facebook, MySpace or Twitter that you'll probably never see any of these so called "friends" ever again. Either way it's going to be interesting to see how the new Pokemon generation manages to cope with the pressures of self-image.
I guess that's enough. Now excuse me. I have to continue soft resetting my game until I get a Shaymin that will kick butt and then tell all my confused (and amused) co-workers all about it tomorrow.