Video Game Widows

Today is one of my department admin's birthday and I asked here if she had any special plans this evening. She said that she didn't and so I told her to tell her boyfriend to take her out somewhere nice. She responded that he is dating one of the recent video game releases and doesn't have much time for her. It made me think of my own video game playing and if I neglect my wife.

That is sort of a loaded question because I leave my wife every Monday morning, catch a flight to the Bay Area, work at a video game company until Thursday evening, and then catch a flight back home. While I may not play any video games when I am home, other than for guitar practice, I do leave for 4 days each week to work in the video game industry. I guess you could say that my wife is a video game widow along with the admin mentioned previously.

So are there any video game widowers whose wife's neglect him to play games? Unfortunately I don't have any statistics I can cite, just anecdotal evidence. Most of the women I know that play games, do so with their husbands or boyfriends. One of the project managers I work with loves the puzzle solving part of video games while her husband likes the shooting part. When they play, they play together and this is common among most of the video-game couples I know.

Fortunately I get all the video game time I need at work or during the evenings when I am away from home. Unfortunately that doesn't help my department admin who won't do anything special on her birthday because her boyfriend is too involved in a video game. In his defense, it is a pretty good video game with a lot of positive reviews.

Cyberwidows

When the Internet exploded about a decade ago and everyone started putting up Websites, somebody coined the term "Cyberwidow." It referred to wives that were neglected in the evening because husbands were busy playing online games or surfing the Internet. As someone who works in the video game industry, I fear I only help contribute to the problem. Therefore I feel it is appropriate for me to help provide my own personal remedy.

About a month ago I was talking with one of my friends. We were talking about our wives and he mentioned that it is important to get away for a weekend, without the kids, and go do something fun. His recommendation included a quarterly time-frame. I have to say that I agree. My kids are grown and all moved out so it is just me and my wife. Yet we still try to get away once a year. Conincidently we were having the conversation just after I returned from a weekend in San Diego and so I felt like I was doing my part. That was back in September.

Now it is November and a different quarter. This past weekend I took my wife to Moab, Utah. One of my favorite national park is Arches and it is spectacular. I think it ranks right up there with Yellowstone and Yosemite. Arches National Park is located just outside of Moab and has some adventurous hikes with amazing scenery. Moab also happens to be mountain bike capital of the world and at the same time, four-wheel-drive capital of the world. It just so happens that I recently bought my wife a brand new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. We used the trip to do a bit of hiking and break in my wife's new car. It was fun and most importantly, nothing broke.

The whole weekend was very inexpensive. We opted to stay in a hotel where breakfast was included in the price of the room. They had a hot tub and pool that felt rejuvenating even though it was only 45 degrees Fahrenheit outside overnight. Throw in gas for the Jeep, eating at restaurants, and entry into the park for a total cost under $200. Remember that a happy wife equals a happy life. Life is pretty good for me right now.