Keep your Poke-Judgements to Yourself
Let me start by saying I haven’t played pokemon-go… yet. In
fact, the only thing I know about pokemon in general is that there is a cute
little guy named Pikachu. I missed the
pokemon-craze apparently.
Regardless, I’m disgusted by the amount of people hating on
pokemon-go players. Yes I’m talking to you judgy bastards who seem to not have
any vices at all. Oh wait… other vices…
hmm. Here are some things I’ve seen on
people’s facebook walls who have dissed pokemon-go players.
- “One more bowl then bed” (with a pic of a bong and a small pile of weed)
- “I just binge watched all of GoT in one weekend! I’m finally caught up”
- “26 hours of COD should I go to bed or keep playing?”
- “bar crawl, and yeah, I crawled home”
Let’s face it, everyone has escapes, ways to wind down, and
yes, vices and addictions. So what’s the solution? Hate on everyone who has
different forms of escapism? How about a little understanding instead. A little love. A little respect. A little compassion for those who don’t share
the wind-down routines as you do. We are
finally opening people’s eyes to the harms of body-shaming, and now we are
going to start on interests-shaming? C’mon now. Think about those people with anxiety or depression issues that
already hate themselves and have a hard time leaving the house. If Pokemon-go makes them feel a part of
something, gives them a little boost, and gets them moving and out and about,
where is the harm there?
I took a walk last night, fairly late, and saw more people
at the beach and park than I have ever seen at that hour in a long time. Teenagers, adults and even a man with his son, groups, and a few individuals but mostly
twosomes playing pokemon-go. These people were working together, laughing and
talking and encouraging each other. With
all of the hate in the world lately, this camaraderie was very nice to see. And
no, they weren’t all looking down at their phones the whole time (part of the
time yes, but not the whole time – there was actual interacting going on).
So maybe you think it’s a waste of time… and I assume
everything you do with every hour of your day is completely fruitful? Maybe it
is, and if so, good for you. But I bet in all of your hating, you didn’t stop
to research that there are some social benefits to pokemon-go as well. Charity Miles is an organization that is
working to put those pokemon “steps” to good use by donating money to
charitable organizations for the amount of steps you take. Check out woof tracks too – and help out a
rescue cause. There are many more philanthropic
ways that playing pokemon-go can help -
check out this post for more ideas and charities http://www.frontstream.com/pokemon-go-for-nonprofits-charities-yes-really/
So stop hating on things.
Give support to people, you never know what demons they are trying to
get a little reprieve from by escaping into a virtual world.
Be Kind
To Yourself
To the Earth
To Others…
It’s not that complicated.
Also – please pokemon-go responsibly. Look where you’re going, don’t pokemon and
drive, and keep an eye on your pokemon-going kids.
