Hawaii: Part II – Saturday and Sunday

Saturday:

Before I recap my weekend in Oahu, here’s a group picture of us standing near the waters at the luau.

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By the way, not all of these pictures were taken by me. I gathered them here and there from my boyfriend’s cameras, others’ cameras, and my own.

Oahu: Part I, Thursday and Friday

I miss Hawaii!!!

Okay now that I got that out of the way, here we go with the recap.

Thursday:

Our flight was at 8:30 in the morning so theBF and I left for the airport at 6 a.m. (you know, just in case, considering it was Labor Day weekend). We got to the airport around 6:40 and had a light breakfast of Starbucks yogurt/fruit parfait with coffee and some water. The two couples joined us (Shirley had a later flight so she was going to meet us in Hawaii) and we soon boarded. The first picture below is of theBF who is eager to land! Sleepyhead slept most of the way through but when we got close enough, he started taking pictures galore. The second picture is of all of us together at the airport thinking of what to do. The third picture is of the beach!

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On Video Gaming and Relationships

I don’t think most people really understand why their significant other spends so much time playing video games. Because of this, video gaming has single-handedly broken up many a relationship, and it has been a sore spot for so many individuals in relationships over the years. I certainly understand the frustration that stems from dating someone who is addicted, but with time, I’ve come to realize that video games aren’t so bad. So long as a person is playing them in healthy amounts, they can actually help a relationship – not break it.

Here are a few reasons why an individual may choose to lose him or herself in the gaming world:

1. It takes us back to a time when we were young and stress-free. Zoning out and playing video games can definitely free us from the burdens our adult-lives lay on us, even if it’s just temporarily. Trying to sustain serious relationships, maintaining a job, and just being an adult in general can be a scary reality. It’s nice to feel like a kid again from time to time.
2. Video games are a good way to release stress. Sure there are other, more productive ways to release stress but many individuals may lack the resources to play golf every weekend, and not everyone may have a mate to “physically” handle this stress with. There’s something to be said about being able to release stress by “pwning” and annihilating any and all enemies while in the comfort of our homes, wearing just our underwear, sitting in a comfortable chair, and eating pizza. If Barack Obama did that ever so often, maybe he’d run our country better.
3. We need control. Oftentimes enough, we encounter stressful situations that are beyond our control. Our bosses may be breathing down our necks, or maybe our partners are nagging endlessly, again. Regardless of the reason, for the control-freak in all of us, video games can be great because they put us in control of our characters and their livelihood. To have some semblance of control in an otherwise uncontrollable environment may be good for our ego every now and then.

So why should we love it when our significant other plays video games?

1. They’re like digital punching bags. So long as our significant others are beating players down, they won’t be beating us down. Just kidding. If we let them get that angst and frustration out of their system, they don’t have any excuse to be anything but sweet with us.
2. Give your significant other some time to do what makes them feel relaxed and whole again, and while they’re enjoying themselves, don’t wait around pouting for them to finish and play with you. Take that time to do something that will make you happy and engage you. If you’re busy doing something for yourself, trust me, you won’t be complaining about what they are doing.
3. This is a personal one but it’s kind of sexy to see my boyfriend doing something he enjoys, well. Now if your significant other is putting in countless hours into a game to come out of it a loser every time, perhaps you should gently let him know that he should try another game.

Overall, I really think that people get on their partners’ cases a bit too much when it comes to video gaming. I think so long as gaming isn’t getting in the way of living normal, clean, productive lives, things should be fine. And let me just tell you, yelling at them, calling names, and breaking computers and consoles don’t necessarily work. A sweet nudge or offers of amazing, uh, meals may be a lot more appealing.