Video Game Paradise

Luca went to a pal’s birthday party and came back a changed man. The party was located at a place spoken about of in riddles, hushed rumors at baseball practice and clues found in Fortnite lobbies. It was…gasp…a video game lounge.

Luca was so whipped up about this place that he kept telling the same story over and over, like a glitch in the Matrix. “…and then you’re like, boom, pick up the controller.” I won’t bore you with the details of his story, but I heard, “…and then you’re like, boom, pick up the controller,” told to Elijah, Diana, Steve, Liam from next door, our mailman, whomever was unlucky enough to call our house, etc.

Because Mother Nature and Luca are great pals, it dumped rain on Evanston last Saturday, ruining our plans to go to a professional baseball game. Luca, casually picking a bit of lint from his shirt, suggested maybe, perhaps, perchance we could go to the video game lounge instead.

Perchance we did. And it was amazing.

Imagine giant room filled with clusters of state of the art nerd chairs. Plus state of the art nerd monitors. Plus nerd headphones. Plus every violent video game ever created. Plus snacks. Plus servers with green hair and exotic contact lenses. Plus hand sanitizer.

Plus BEER.

I bought us 3 hours of game time because there was some kind of deal, but we all assured ourselves that we couldn’t possibly spend 3 hours in a darkened room playing Fortnite. We emerged 3 hours later, half blind and filled with vague regret for all the violence we committed. My brother and his kids showed up at some point, but I can’t tell you when or how. We stumbled to my car, our skin pale, our eyes burning and fingers raw from hand sanitizer.

This is most likely 100% coincidence, but the boys reached a new level of affection ever since. They start and end every sentence with “I love you, Daddy.” They demand to kiss me before they go to bed. They offer to clear the table. Who knew we could reach a new level of love in a room with cement floors and exposed wiring everywhere? Maybe it was the shared experience of something so stupid, so unnecessary, so kick ass?

Eli has been all over me to go back, but I’ve resisted. I’m worried I won’t be able to recreate the magic of that first time. Plus I’m pretty sure the place gave us the Black Plague.