To Be Old in the Time of Pokemon

I’m sure you’re sick of it by now.

People unexpectedly stopping in the hallways; super slow drivers, especially past water tanks, churches or graffiti you would’ve otherwise ignored; and kids pestering you to please turn on your hotspot, or could they now “please get data subscription”.

All because of Pokemon. Yes, the Pokemon has made a comeback. And what a huge comeback it had been.

If you’re like me, who has a daughter who has not stopped playing Pokemon all throughout her soon-to-be-18 years of existence, Pokemon Go was a big event, yes, but was part and parcel of the usual Pokemon Girl life.  No shocking surprise there.

Some, however, were not so lucky.  It hit them suddenly, out of nowhere, and what a whack it was. Everyone was suddenly playing it. Didn’t matter who, when or what (ok, make that “why”), a lot of people got into it.

My office colleagues and I had been walking about Eastwood the first couple of weeks it had come out, and were trying to comply with the “gotta catch ’em all” directive, when a youngish mom with her about-oh-10-ish daughter, came up to us to watch a bit.  Mom was encouraging, “You watch how they do it,o.” “Ganun lang pala!” Little girl looked kinda interested, but not very much, maybe because they were around 5 working class ladies, walking around in the rain trying to catch some imaginary pocket monsters.  How cray-cray can they get?

Anyway, Mom engaged Emma, herself a Mommy to a 3-year old little girl  (fortunately still too young to ask for a smart phone), to a conversation, and asked about how to begin playing, what to do, etc.  Pity the clueless Mom who had to learn this alien idea, just so she can teach, and eventually, hopefully, enjoy this thing with her Daughter.  But also, pity the other young mom who had to teach her, as she herself only got into it because her IT friend forced her to download the app.

Thus, to me, the moral of the story that day was to always keep abreast of new things, so you don’t have to ambush unsuspecting passersby to teach you how to Pokemon, or anything else, for that matter. (Like, for example, “Pak Ganern”?)

Keep yourself relevant. Don’t be afraid to ask, even if it means getting a few funny looks and giggles in the process.

My own Mom is aghast that I play Pokemon Go, and has exclaimed quite a few times that I am too old for such nonsense.

NOOOOOOOOOOO….. I beg to disagree.

All that walking around just so you can hatch an egg, who’s to say you’re old and creaky?Hard to believe, but this bid to get the tech hermits out in the sunshine actually works. I’ve seen my night person nephew wake up at 6am, to go walking around the neighborhood trying to figure out where the spawn points are located.  Exercising the body AND the mind, ha! Me, I cheat, so I drive around more than I walk, but I still walk more nowadays, yes, I swear that’s true.

With each new technology that comes along, I am filled with awe and wonder:  how do they do that? Who would have thought I would see the day that a tiny little box can hold the key to the universe? It is a wondrous thing to share with my daughter and nephews and nieces, and be at par with what they know, maybe even less, and start learning all over again.

To be old in the time of Pokemon… or not.

It’s your choice.

The first Gym I captured, only because I saw it was unoccupied so I put my Golbat up there. Yes, no battles, just claiming unclaimed territory. LOL. It was literally my 2 minutes of fame. And then it was gone for good. 

 

 

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