A Man and His Toys…

When did I put away my toys? I'm going to tell it to you like it is, kids. I'm going to reveal some things of myself that I shouldn't. However, since I've got a girlfriend that will let me look at her and touch her on her special places I can get away with divulging a little truth. So where do I begin? No, no. I'm not going to do it like Lucas and start in the middle. I'll start at the beginning. It was a frigid and bitingly cold day in Southern California at sunny and 71 degrees… Oh the horror! I was sitting down at a Starbucks and I was writing something. You see, this was a good six or seven years ago now as I was writing; which was something I really didn't do a whole lot of… What was I writing and what did it have to do with “putting the toys away?”I'm writing about this for a couple of reasons: First off, I totally missed the bandwagon on the Kay Hymowitz article about man boys and had meant to write up something sooner! Also, I had a recent conversation with one of my best friends about a similar topic and confronted him about his man-boyishness….

Once upon a time I played games. A lot. I used to play computer games, console games and trading card games (yes, games like Pokemon. Trust me, though, I never played that shit! Promise!!!) and I hung out with friends and did much the same thing. Oh and I drank myself silly on the weekends. I did what a lot of my peers did. Had fun! During that time my main vice was a card game called… Magic the Gathering. Don't be an asshole!! Stop laughing, damn you!!! I played that damn game a ton and I spent a ton more in time and lost wages on that money-pit of a game. But it was fun and the community aspect is what kept me involved and playing… and paying.

As I was sitting down and writing this blog post I realized right there and then I was shedding a part of my life away. I was writing my “swan song” to the community I'd bonded with over cardboard cards… (Don't ask me what the most I spent on a card was. It was over $400 dollars, though. Don't judge!). With the final period and last spell check complete, I clicked ‘post.' I took a deep breath, gulped down my grande iced coffee and went home. I'd just said goodbye to being a “kid.” That's what it felt like. I was around 27 by this point, I believe.

For me, I was just starting my web development business, I was actually starting to date and get laid without having to stalk and beg the day-shift stripper for handy. Life was getting better. When the world of doing more met what I consider to be my childish ways only one could survive. I chose the path of more resistance, responsibility and reward. Life as I knew it would change for the better.

Every man has that moment in life where this decision happens, that's what I naively think anyway. I know people who play their games and lead excessively productive lives and it makes me sick, because they can balance childish pursuits along with their pressing adult obligations. I'm not one of these people. I admire those people.

I haven't achieved many of the milestones an adult is supposed to achieve. I don't have a college education, but I excel at being awesome. I don't own a home, but I don't live with mom and dad either and haven't since forever and nine days ago… I don't pursue childish things or games, though, I do spend feverishly on technology… I'm okay with all of this… I know that I'm moving ahead and leaving the old ways behind…

When I was a child, I made use of a child's language, I had a child's feelings and a child's thoughts: now that I am a man, I have put away the things of a child. — Corinthians 13:11

The bible times translation of this quote is pretty simple: The need to get laid and make money is greater than the need to go questing and leveling up with the boys so you can afford that sweet, ass tv and the right pad with the right person.