So I was playing laser tag last night, going up against a bunch of strangers. This one gal sees me coming and yells “Stop!” I shot her anyway; after all, I’m no dummy.
So she walks right up to me, grabs my gun, looks me in the face and says, very slowly, “I. Tripped. And. Hurt. My. Knee.”
Now, I’m sympathetic toward those who injure themselves while playing, but I have litte patience for such shenanigans. I looked right back at her, raised my voice and said, “You do NOT grab another player’s gun in the middle of the game! It’s against the rules! No physical contact is allowed” I think she was surprised by the intensity of my outburst, because she was completely quiet as I stormed off.
I wanted to give her a longer tongue-lashing, but we were in the middle of a game. Did she really think that she could compel other players to cease firing at her, just by yelling “Stop!” Did she think she was playing against a bunch of gullible morons?
Heck, if she trips while running bases during softball, does she expect to halt the game by yelling “Stop! I tripped!” Heck, does she think it’s some grave injustice if the other team tags her out as a result? As I said, I’m sympathetic to people who injure themselves while playing, but let’s not pretend that the game revolves around ourselves.
I wanted to point out that she could have yelled, “I’m injured! Stop!” instead. This would have communicated her point more effectively, and I’m sure that most people would have given her a break. (I know that I would have.) Even then though, one shouldn’t expect other players to stop just because one has a minor injury. If you need to recover, do so, but bear in mind that other players will continue to tag you out for a while.
Laser-shooting harpy.
