The other day, I posted an anecdote on my Facebook page about a snake encounter during one of my trail runs. One of my younger friends posted a picture of a cartoon snake and posted that snakes were pretty easy to catch as long as they didn't jump.
I was so confused.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have recognized the reference to Pokémon GO, a phenomenon that, unless you're living under a rock, you most likely have heard of if not participated in by now.
Actually, even if you're living under a rock, someone will eventually track a Pokémon there, so good luck escaping.
My initial reaction to this new augmented reality app was, "Great! As if people need another excuse to constantly look at their phones!"
I get mad at people walking around the neighborhood and talking on their phones when they are supposed to be exercising. "Trying to jog here!" (If you're going to take the effort to dress in all of that spandex, at least leave the phone at home.) How am I going to find the patience to deal with crowds of people staring into their phones, trying to throw tiny balls at late '90s/early 2000s cartoon characters?
However, when I stopped grumbling and actually listened to the reasons why people were playing the game, it struck a chord.
"Pokémon GO has given a lot of dorks/nerds/socially anxious people a reason to get out of bed and go outside and actually talk to real human beings. It makes us happy and that's something a lot of us struggle to find."
"I suffer from an anxiety disorder, and the game gets me out and into the sun, exercising and actually enjoying all of it."
"I've made new friends walking around the streets, chatting with people about what team they're on, where they found their rare things. Watching the people downtown is exhilarating. Everyone is excited and happy. Everyone is friendly. Everyone is bonding over this silly little app. It's a beacon of light in a time where so many dark things are swirling around us."
The app uses GPS technology to lead players to Pokéstops, often based on artistic or historic landmarks, encouraging participants to learn about their cities.
"Things I walk past every day downtown that I thought were just graffiti are actually historic works of art. I never knew there was a Challenger Memorial in Boise."
"When I first began playing Ingress, I lived in Koreatown, and the game literally showed me the best parts of my neighborhood and helped me to learn a lot more about Korean culture."
The Pokéstops are based on Ingress, a sci-fi game that has been around for a few years. Pokémon GO used the portals already established in Ingress and introduced this type of augmented reality gaming to a wider audience.
To me, it sounds a bit like Who Framed Roger Rabbit? meets Capture the Flag. I loved Who Framed Roger Rabbit? but I was not a fan of Capture the Flag. Back in my teenage years, I would hide in a ditch for hours hoping that no one from either team would spot me. Most of the time, I didn't know which team I was on. Were flags even involved in that game?
Pokémon was after my time, but a lot of people from my age group are into this game. I thought for sure this would be one of those weird Millennials-Still-At-Home fads, but that hasn't been the case. However, the differences seem to lie in the rationale behind playing.
The twenty-something and younger crowd played out of nostalgia.
"An actual dream has come true for many. As kids, you play the game and then go to recess to catch Pokémon on the playground. Then everyone stopped playing pretend. Flash to 2016 . . . AND YOU CAN [catch Pokémon] and it's everything you imagined. Better even."
"Growing up I wanted them to come to life and, in a way, now they are!! It's a way for me to get out and have fun with my childhood."
"This game lets us get outside and travel just to get a certain Pokémon. It's cool because around certain climates or whether it's night or day, only certain Pokémon come out. This is exactly like the Pokémon show is except not so hardcore."
"I was not allowed to watch it as a kid and therefore didn't play it either . . . Finally, Pokémon GO rolled out and I saw it as my chance, even at 22, to finally involve myself in this world . . . For me it's become something that finally connects me to this world I so craved to be a part of while growing up, and I am grateful for that. It's essentially a way for me to be a kid again . . ."
My Gen X friends tended to focus more on the public landmark, geocaching, and exercise aspects of the game. They also emphasized this was something they could do as a family.
"It also got me out of the house and walking around last night with my husband, where normally we would just be watching Netflix on the couch."
"It's been fun to find things as a family. A little worried about the 6 year old who is obsessed already."
"My older son just got into it. I find it partly fascinating and partly concerning. I suppose that's the battle between my inner child and my inner grown-up. I'm seriously considering downloading it because it seems to be a great way to spend time with friends and family using electronics, but actually interacting. If it turns out I don't like it, I can always quit...I think. (That's the part that concerns me.)"
A couple of hours, this same friend of mine commented, "It's done. I took the plunge."
"I think it would be kind of cool," my husband, Dan, said the other night. "Is it weird that I’d like to try it?"
Of course, everything that involves social interactions has its dark side.
Reports of criminals using the app to commit armed robberies and muggings are discouraging. Someone discovered a dead body and another found a loaded gun while searching for Pokémon.
People aren't looking where they are going and are running into things, kind of funny and disturbing at the same time.
Some of the Pokéstops have been completely inappropriate, like the Holocaust Museum and Arlington Cemetery.
Just use your brains, friends.
I think the park by my house must have some Pokémon running around in it. I am pretty sure one guy was playing on Wednesday. He got out of his car and walked around the pond. He leaned on his car for a bit. Then he sat in his car. A few seconds later, he got out of his car and walked around the basketball hoops. He was staring at his phone the whole time.
On Thursday, I saw the same guy sitting in the park picnic shelter with a friend. They both had phones.
In this same park, I ran by a girl, stopped on a bike, who was checking her phone. I glanced at her screen. Sure enough, she was throwing objects at a cartoon monster thingy.
As I turned into the parking lot at the dentist's office, I noticed another girl stopped on a bike, checking her phone.
"As long as no one shows up at my house looking for Pikachu!" I thought.
Later that day, I received a notice from our neighborhood app, warning us to lock our vehicles.
"Our truck was rummaged through last night. It doesn't appear that anything was taken . . . The nerve of some people," the message read.
I almost replied, "Maybe they were looking for Pokémon."
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