The moment I stepped into the room, I knew I would not be able to fulfill my promise. It was a Friday evening. We had just driven 1 hour to San Francisco and ate dinner at a pretty mediocre Burmese place. We were on our way to an escape room. My friend’s brother and cousin were in town and we wanted to show them around. I was tasked with planning a day and of course I chose my favorite pastimes: good food with conversation, puzzles, and a barcade.
I am closing-in on 300 games. You’d think at some point I’d be tired of them, but that’s never the case. Sometimes I don’t always look forward to it after my long week of teaching and adult responsibilities…but that always changes. My partner tells me, “when we got there, you actually grew two inches. You were very obviously smiling underneath your mask…your cheeks were all happy… and your eyes lit up…it’s actually quite cute.”
I’ve been known to be able to make connections pretty quickly and take charge of the room. I will quickly start telling my teammates how to solve different puzzles or what we “probably need to do.” My friends alway say about “leaving some for the rest of us to solve.” I know they’re just joking, but I am pretty self conscious about it. This time I was determined to “leave some for the rest” of my team and just help when they ask for it. When I told them at dinner, they just laughed and said “but if you do that, we might not finish.”
Sigh - I just can’t win huh? I want to share my favorite activity with my friends and I also want to make sure they’re having a good time. I wonder if I was the reason why they don’t enjoy escape rooms as much as me.
It was dark, and items were hidden throughout the room. When I found one of them, and saw a poster of it on the wall it instantly clicked in my head. I knew exactly what to do and where to start. I wandered over to the wall and moved my hands across the surface just to confirm my suspicions. Unable to contain myself I bursted out “are you all okay if I play the game with you?”. Everyone laughed and said “yes”.
Strangers always ask, “do you think you’ll ever get tired of them? It’s a pretty expensive hobby right?” No. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of them. I hope the spark never goes away and the rush is always worth the money.