Virginia Is For Families

There was an article in the WSJ a few days ago about a guy who spends most of his time in a virtual world living a virtual life. His real wife is not happy about it. I can see why should would be concerned. They have been married only a few years and now he has asked his virtual girlfriend to marry him. If Beth had a virtual boyfriend I would have an unvirtual fit. The author of the article asks if he is cheating. Isn’t it pretty obvious his brain is cheating? Does it really matter what the rest of him is doing? He’s pretty old.

I understand the desire to sit in front of a computer screen for hours and play a video game or blog. It’s a form of entertainment that surpasses watching television by a mile in my case. Watching the tube leads to drowsiness and Restless Legs Syndrome most of the time. The computer monitor is interactive and requires a different state of mind. And I do get carried away with it at times. Beth is a very patient person and she has never been critical about any of this. But I doubt she would be happy if I started dating an image on the computer whether it was controlled by a software program or a person on the other end.

We can go off on some strange tangents as we get older. The folks in this article are a good example of that. It’s too bad the real wife in this case isn’t interested in computer games. She could go online and assume an identity that could create some interesting situations for her husband and his friend.

How do we measure these things? It’s always interesting when the power goes out. Suddenly you have two people sitting in the dark without computers, AC, television, waffle maker and a host of other conveniences. What do you feel like doing then? A few years ago a hurricane came through here and wiped out power for more than a week. We used to play scrabble out on the porch where it was cool. Beth made scrambled eggs on the grill. We took long walks with the dogs. I have some nice memories of that time.

And you know what? I may need to pretend another hurricane just came through here. Because you can never have enough of those good memories. And I don’t think you can find them in a virtual world. There is something about a real smile or a kiss from someone you love that is about a million times better than any virtual interaction.

And you don’t have to worry about the power going out. In fact, things may get even better if it does!

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118670164592393622.html?mod=blog