No Words

Last night I sent my buddy an ominous text message warning him of the future that awaits him when his daughter is old enough for sleepovers. Last night was Emma's first true sleepover, and it was quite lacking in the "sleep" part. Innocent whispers turned to giggles, which then turned to loud talking and mysterious thumps as they either goofed around or attempted to wrangle and hide a small pig before I could catch the in the act.

I asked my friend if his childhood sleepovers were like this or if it was a girl thing, to which he replied "Girl thing. We just grunted while playing Nintendo." While that was slightly sarcastic, it's also a mirror image of how I've always spent my time sleeping at a friend's house.

I've said before that gamers share a very special, universal bond. We can tolerate almost anyone who enjoys what we enjoy, even if the conversation never goes beyond the game. And I think most of us feel our best friendship memories somehow involve gaming.

I remember nothing about a huge flood that hit Iowa years ago except that my friend Cody and I learned to play Magic by candlelight. I remember little about my friend Kyle from elementary school except that we would call each other when professional wrestling was on and talk about what was happening as though we were in the same room. And many of my close friends were found from a shared interest in gaming.

I'm not saying non-gamers can't bond, but I can't imagine living such a horrible life! I mean everyone finds interests to discuss, but there's nothing that offers the depth, history, opinion, passion, and widespread appeal as gaming. I can instantly click with someone wearing a Legend of Zelda shirt, a Call of Duty keychain, or a World of Warcraft hat. Weird examples perhaps, but those are real people whose apparel I've complimented and then found myself with an instant, if temporary, friend.

And when those cross over in to sleepovers, it's awesome. I've never had a marathon gaming session without a friend nearby. And while there's the stereotype of people "grunting" while playing, the reality is that gaming is our meaningless chatter. Rather than talk about frivolous things until we discuss something interesting, we shoot people and save princesses while talking about relationships, religion, family, politics, and whatever else normal people talk about. We bond through the action of playing games as well as the exchange of words during it.

And the best part is that gamers can still have sleepovers without being weird. Next month my brother-in-law will be on leave from the Marines and we're already discussing games to play all night. And until all my bachelor friends get married, I will continue to have sleepovers filled with killing enemies, yelling at teammates, and good conversation.


See you tomorrow!

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