When I was still young and my squishy parts had not quite solidified, I was uprooted from the somewhat large, suburban area of Tulsa, Oklahoma and transplanted to the very rural and much tinier Russell, Kansas. Most of you, no doubt, will probably note that's where the former presidential candidate Bob Dole came from, and he hasn't been back since his stunning defeat as far as I know. Crusty, aging politicians aside, Russell couldn't have been more different than my previous home. I had no friends and making them wasn't and especially easy thing for me to do at the time.
As the years passed by and my circle of friends and I grew up, my own behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes began to pervade and replace those that my parents tried to instill in me when I was younger. I am now the shining example of a man you see now. Well, not that you're actually seeing me this second, but when you do see me that is. My point is, I can't help but think what it would have been like had I not been removed from my original environment; how much different my aforementioned beliefs would be.
Questioning myself in that way seems to be a big part of how I view other people of similar and dissimilar backgrounds. I'm always curious what drives people to the conclusions they have made and how they view my own. I think that we all as journalists attempt this on a daily basis, which is, quite possibly, one of the most difficult aspects of the job; getting past the wall our own opinions can be to see others as they really are. Don't get me wrong; I'm not the best example of the world's most compassionate person or anything, but damn it, I try (although particularly insistent and ignorant people get my goat).
One final note: somewhere along the way, at my dad's behest, I picked up a love of things technology, which soon turned its glorious head in the direction of something called the ‘video game.' Hundreds and hundreds of hours of my life have been, not wasted, but spent with these creatures and I couldn't love them more. Hopefully a few more of you out there feel the same and share my passion for games. Until next time, however: game over.
Comments (1)
Yeah video games really are an interesting platform huh? When you think about the last 20 years…Its amazing how much games have changed and affected society and pop culture. I heard recently that the video game industry now makes more money than the music industry annually. (not that surprising I guess when you think about all of the kids you see walking around with psps and gameboys, etc.)
I do have a few beefs with video games tho:
1.) Kids these days really don’t seem to go outside and play the old fashioned way as much because they’re all online playing games.
2.) Remember those games that used to teach us stuff (Oregon Trail, Odell Down Under, etc.)…they need to make more of those. (What about a guitar hero that actually teaches you how to play the instrument). I think this could help some of us get rid of that guilty feeling that we’re just wasting our time by playing these games.
3.) I think we need to bring back arcades and update them with cooperative type games. It would be nice to see the development of interesting large, arcade specific titles. If arcades became cooler again people might be encouraged to leave their house and go out of their comfort zone to game in a more social place and meet people.
And Keep up the compassion man!
Posted by Bart Vandever | August 22, 2007 10:51 PM
Posted on August 22, 2007 22:51