Pokémon Go Players Do the Craziest Things

Lifezette ^ | 26 July 2016 | Ann Oldenburg

[Fractal Trader]

Pokémon Go mania has turned a corner — it has reached the point of ridiculousness. The game is making people do nutty, dangerous, and even life-threatening things.

The “augmented reality mobile game” is sending players all over the place as they try to catch the crazy creatures. These people might be in a park or on private property — in a church or in your bathroom.

The stories are getting more outrageous and outlandish. The upside of the game is that it’s getting people moving. They are actually walking around outside. They are running. They are breathing fresh air (except when it’s like a sauna outside). The downside is that the quests to catch Pokémon have been linked to all sorts of mishaps, from criminal incidents to car crashes.

Two recent examples: An Auburn, New York, man was playing the game while driving and ran into a tree. And a Cincinnati woman admitted to climbing the fence at Paul Brown Stadium, home of the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals, to catch Pokémon last week. She was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing.

The stories are getting more outrageous and outlandish by the day.

Here are some more of the recent ones:

[Dirt for sale]

My contention with the Pokemon go craze is that it is just one facet of an agenda one might call “Second Life”. It is a pure fantasy world which we are all expected to plug into (why hello there, matrix, existenz) once our real lives get pitiful enough. A real feeling of accomplishment is something to encourage. This is not that. Obviously children are all over this craze; not unusual since children have been ignorant since the beginning of time. I didn’t think I was mocking anybody, but if I was, perhaps they deserve it.