1988, And, The Genesis of All Things

As some of you may or may not know, I am the last child out of three. I grew up with two older brothers that I hopelessly adored, and desperately needed attention from.

They were just super cool. (At least that’s what I thought way back when my only friends were plush dolls and Sesame Street characters–fortunately I’ve grown out of Sesame Street).

Every time they did something I wanted to do it too because, well, I was a little copy-cat and had no real life of my own.

My brothers did all kinds of cool things, like playing basketball on our driveway, playing hockey in our street, playing baseball in the backyard…playing Sega Genesis.

Sega Genesis was the best. They would sit on the floor right in front of our tv, voices escalating, thumbs frantically pushing buttons in strategic combinations. What a rush!

The only thing was that most of the games they played were for two players only. Like Street Fighter, only two people could play at a time against each other.

I really wanted to play with them. With one of them. Either one. I just wanted to play with someone else.

What generally happened was I would sit watching them screaming their heads off and having the time of their lives. (I always think of ABBA when anyone says this line) …

But this is what would occur:

Me: “Hey, can I have a turn?”

Them: “Yea just hang on. You can play when I die.”

… 5 minutes …

Me: “Is it my turn yet? You died three times already…”

Them: “Not yet. Just let us do one more round.”

… 5 more minutes …

Me: “That looks like a lot of fun guys. Do you think I could play too?”

Them: “Not yet!! You don’t even know which buttons to push. Just wait–we’re trying to learn new combos.”

Me: “Now that you died can I try?”

Them: “Aauuugghh! You distracted me! That’s why I died. You killed me!”

Me: “But … but I …”

Them: “It wasn’t fair! Let me go again! She was talking and she made me die!”

… 5 more minutes …

Them: “Okay, here you can play.” Both brothers drop their controllers on the ground and exit, Stage Right.

There I am, left with the wreckage of tangled controller wires. Gingerly, I pick one up and try to free it from the other. Once free, I look behind me at the empty living room, look in front of me at the welcoming tv screen and push Start.

Me vs. the computer.

L.

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