12-05-2003, 06:24 PM
Well, at ages less than 20, very few (almost none) understand the term 'grown up' and 'responsibility' yet. Yes there are exceptions, but it's mostly true. I'm not flaming any teenagers reading here, but, I didn't quite understand that yet when I was 18 (16 years ago), and it was a few years yet before the world kicked me in the butt and taught me what it meant.
As far as the article, as a father of 4 kids (10, 7,6, and 2 months), I have little sympathy for him. That kid comes first, last and always.
Hey, I'm a computer addict to the nth degree, but I can pause my gaming at any time if my wife needs help with the kids, or whatever, or one of the kids needs something important. That's one of the primary reasons I don't play much online. You can pause single-player. Not so online.
To complete my addiction picture, you have to remember, I work as a network admin at a school. There are two of us, responsible for 1100 computers, 15 servers, and various other hardware across 10 buildings. We don't have any consultants that we call to do things. We do it. After work, I usually spend from 2-4 hours/night on my computer, playing D2/NWN/etc, but some nights there's just not time for that. And I deal with that, as my family comes first. Period.
No, the article is just pretty sad. I understand addiction, but there comes a time in a person's life when you have to decide whether you're going to join society, or if you're going to live off society and have no self-respect the rest of your life. My time came with alcohol when I was about 21. I met someone special, and I realized that if I couldn't get off the bottle, I was going to lose her. Well, we've been married for 12 years as of tomorrow, and have those 4 wonderful kids that I wouldn't trade for money or fame or anything. The alcohol addiction lost out on that one. But it was my choice. I couldn't have blamed anyone or anything else for it if I had gone the other way. In the end, it was *my* decision and no one else's to pick my path. And it's that way for everyone. There's choices in life, and a price attached to all of them.
As far as the article, as a father of 4 kids (10, 7,6, and 2 months), I have little sympathy for him. That kid comes first, last and always.
Hey, I'm a computer addict to the nth degree, but I can pause my gaming at any time if my wife needs help with the kids, or whatever, or one of the kids needs something important. That's one of the primary reasons I don't play much online. You can pause single-player. Not so online.
To complete my addiction picture, you have to remember, I work as a network admin at a school. There are two of us, responsible for 1100 computers, 15 servers, and various other hardware across 10 buildings. We don't have any consultants that we call to do things. We do it. After work, I usually spend from 2-4 hours/night on my computer, playing D2/NWN/etc, but some nights there's just not time for that. And I deal with that, as my family comes first. Period.
No, the article is just pretty sad. I understand addiction, but there comes a time in a person's life when you have to decide whether you're going to join society, or if you're going to live off society and have no self-respect the rest of your life. My time came with alcohol when I was about 21. I met someone special, and I realized that if I couldn't get off the bottle, I was going to lose her. Well, we've been married for 12 years as of tomorrow, and have those 4 wonderful kids that I wouldn't trade for money or fame or anything. The alcohol addiction lost out on that one. But it was my choice. I couldn't have blamed anyone or anything else for it if I had gone the other way. In the end, it was *my* decision and no one else's to pick my path. And it's that way for everyone. There's choices in life, and a price attached to all of them.
--Mav