Day was going well (San Mateo OPST 131 Field Visit, gym...) until a jeepney ride home. I was just trying to rest my eyes after a tiring workout at the gym, when I felt a sharp pressure tug at the right side of my tummy. The guy sitting beside me told me to be quiet, and just give him everything in may bag's wallet (which was on my lap) to him fast and discreetly. I immediately realized I was held up, and nobody in the jeep noticed what was going on, especially in such an overcrowded jeep. I had no choice but to give him my precious mp3 player, my 1 GB flashdrive and bluetooth dongle, after which he immediately fled carrying my little treasures away. Surprisingly, I felt no remorse and anger at my loss... I looked at the other passengers in the jeep who was unaware of what just happened. I wondered, if they knew what was happening, what would they do?.. what would I do, if I saw that happening to someone else? What would you do?
I installed Sims 2 Mobile on my phone a few weeks back, and I started playing it. It's an interesting game where you control a "sim" and all his life activities, ranging from eating, taking a bath and watching TV to looking for a job and partner, improving your house and many more. In the game, your sim had to fulfill certain objectives or "aspirations", to progress in the game. I haven't played the PC version before, but it was interesting enough, so I tried it out. I started with my sim, whom I aptly named "Oliver" and guided him accordingly to accomplish simple aspirations such as purhasing an alarm clock, prepare food and talk with someone. The first sim I got to know in the game was "Ben", and one of the aspirations changed into "make a new friend." Ok made Oliver make a new friends out of Ben. Soon the aspiration changed into "marry someone"... Out of curiousity whether the game was "politically correct", I made Oliver propose to Ben... and voila, I got married with Ben! Ok, my sim is gay... There's nothing wrong there, but I decided to restart the game, and try a different route in the social life of my sim. This time, my sim made friends with "Penny", who didn't like talking about politics. Penny works in a restaurant, and through her, I got a job as a cook... Good, Oliver now has a decent job, and can now purchase other items. Now I have an espresso coffee maker, a cooker and a bath. Soon, the aspiration changed into "marry someone" and this time, Oliver married Penny, and Penny moved in the apartment. New aspiration: become head cook... So I made Oliver practice cooking better, to gain enough skill points to get the job. Soon, my sim had enough skill points. Oliver talked to Penny again to inquire about the job, and immediately, got the job. New social aspirations came up but were pretty simple: "Hug someone...", "Kiss someone...", "Tell a joke", and hehe, "Tell a dirty joke"... Occassionally I would let Oliver "woohoo" with Penny, but surely there were plenty of hugs and kisses. Things were going well, the apartment was getting big, and Oliver was earning big, and with Penny, he had a lucky life! Then a new aspiration popped up: "Get a divorce"... What the?!! I thought, OK, this is a game... I made Oliver talk with Penny about the divorce... but a message popped up: "You do not have enough money for the divorce." Figures... I shut the game down. How can a simple game on a phone teach such values... but come to think of it, it does happen in real life, perhaps the value of the game simply reflects how the world works these days.
The world is really turning upside down.
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