Oh. Just poke this.

drieere farrmrmr

When we were kids… we used to say… “Poke. You owe me a Coke.”  That was our PokeCraze.  But here we are in the 21st Century.  We have all been reading about this in the news  We’ve gone from Poke to PokEEE.   Here it is, like it or not.   Pokemon Go.

Most of the people my generation or older don’t really know so much about Pokemon.  Other than their kids used to be interested in it…. played the game … collected cards… and such.

But Pokemon has been making a popular comeback.  A resurgence.  A Poke-Reawakening.  First, let us get a little bit of  the terminology straight.  Pokemon is the original Nintendo game.   In Pokemon, monsters roam the lands, wide and far. And they are sometimes as cute as can be.

Then.   As a player, it is your task to find them.  Those aforementioned monsters.  Capture them.  And subsequently, train them.  Finally, you get to put them into battle against other players.

Okay.  So the deal the whole world seems to be playing now is called Pokémon Go.  It is a free app.  For iPhones or Androids.   Free to download.  Free to play.  But you have the option to use real money to buy in-game currency called PokeCoins.   This sometimes really sucks the Poke’-Schmucks right in!

It is a little bit like Geocaching.  The game works by using your phone’s GPS.  It uses your real location.  Then, it brings up a Pokemon on your screen.  It is sort of overlaid on top of what you see in front of you.   At any rate, you are supposed to go around and locate them.  Capture them with Pokeballs, that you bought with the PokeCoins.

And when you are all done, you do the Hokie Pokie and you shake yourself about.

But… as with anything… it is always “fun and games” until someone gets hurt.  The phone-sized monsters inside Pokémon Go may not be real.  But people have been reporting plenty of crimes as a result of the game.  Yep.  Yep. Yep.

Players are being robbed while they were playing.    Criminals lure them in to isolated areas, and before you know it… you no longer have your PokeWallet.  Or your PokePurse.

Other sorts of crimes, besides robbery, are starting to be reported.  Not to mention the number of people walking into traffic, and walls, and such.  Call the Commissioner.   Where is good old Batman when you need him?   Holy Pikachu.

I guess my best advice is this.  Solitaire has served us well.  Stick with it.  Hopefully this PokeCraze will fall into the ranks of the BitCoin,  the 8-Track-Tape, and the Segway.

And, if you find that playing Pokemon is not for you… and you don’t know what to do with your phone….

Call someone you love.
Talk to them.
That would simply be … PokeCool.


Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.   — Leo Buscaglia

Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.    — H. Jackson Brown, Jr.