Spontaneity
The one thing I love the most about dodgeball, is the spontaneity of it. I would get a message from a friend saying he/she was at a certain place, and I would think “Hmm. I don’t have anything else to do. Why not drop in?” I’m not sure how else this could be done without this technology — our daily movements are often unplanned, and without notice, we sometimes make split-second decisions on where to go and what to do. One or two weekends ago, I received a dodgeball mentioning a spontaneous BBQ on a friend’s roof mere hours after said message. I had nothing else planned, and immediately made plans to attend — and somehow managed to rope Brandon in the festivities despite his dislike of spontaneity (Brandon is the poster child for planning ahead). Dodgeball allows for moments like this everyday — a call for dinner, late night drinks, weekend brunch — it’s a case where technology really does work in bringing people together more often. Sometimes it gets incredibly tedious when multiple people check in at the same place (often known as dodgeball spam), and don’t get me started on the faux pas of checking in from a city you’re not currently in… but the pros outweigh the cons. At least in my book (Plus there’s the notion that dodgeball allows for a non-confrontational way of socializing — ie. geek socializing. But more on that later).
Then there was the other night, in which a case of real-life spontaneity unfolded. After the Flickr party on Saturday, I found myself in a downtown bar nearby with a few other friends. Then we were somehow commandeered to yet another bar in a fancy hotel, and a friend and I decided to hoof it over there. When lo and behold, out of the blue, a CEO of a certain Internet technology company invites us to get into his limo for a ride. I looked at my friend, wondering what the next move was, and before I knew it she was in the limo and I was following her in. Then a bunch of programming nerd-types from a coding convention crammed in, and it was the most bizarre limo ride ever. They were wondering who we were, and it was odd that we were somehow made into mini-celebrities that they wanted to hang out with mere moments after we revealed our identities. I guess getting invited into a limo ride gives one a certain credibility!
Spontaneity = Good times. Good times indeed.
That was pretty funny, wasn’t it? =D Hahaha. Awesome.