Comment: I despise Pokemon Go, and there’s no way I’m the only one
The biggest digital phenomenon of 2016 so far, Pokemon Go turns such basic pursuits as going outside, talking to strangers and visiting national monuments into a mere game – and it’s driving me mad
For the first 48 hours of obsessive Pokemon-hunting, I tried to cultivate an aura of magnanimous chill. If my fiance planned to play the game through every meal and conversation, the least I could do was feign some level of polite interest.
I was tested, I’ll admit, when I returned home from work to see our energetic beagle mix passed out on the kitchen floor. (“We were out a long time,” Jason admitted. “I think maybe Pokemon ruined walks for her.”)
The chill faltered again when, on a weekend trip to Target, Jason yelled, “Cait, watch out!” as a Staryu floated past my swivelling head. (“I thought I was about to run into someone,” I hissed. “Don’t do that in public.”)
But the last straw, the very last one, came as we drove down the street on Saturday, making good time in the light morning traffic. “Babe, can you” – Jason said, jerking the wheel suddenly – “can you just, real quick, I need you to – can you catch this Doduo for me?”
Pokemon Go is, by all accounts, the single most important digital phenomenon of 2016. I hate it. I hate it with the futile, frustrated passion of anyone who hates an approaching trend and knows, without a doubt, that it will swamp them.