LAN Party Adventures

Recently, Husband had another LAN party. (See May 25 post for explanation.) But this one was a little different. How? It was a “sealed box” party…where the game must remain sealed in its original container until arrival at the party. Then and only then can the seal be broken and the game installed. Sounds silly, but it actually makes the playing field more level since no one has the opportunity to play the game before the party.

Another addition to this party was the football game. The Razorbacks were playing Alabama during the party, so the TV that usually accompanies the treadmill ended up with a rigged cable in the middle of the floor where it could be heard in both LAN rooms.

My job for LAN parties is usually threefold. I take care of getting food (usually pizza), bake dessert, usually cookies, and try to stay out of the way. I’m usually pretty good at my tasks, and they’re pretty straightforward, but this time I found some amusement in one of them.

I ordered the usual round of pizzas – thick crust and no vegetables…God forbid anybody eat anything green – and don’t forget the Ranch Dressing, thank you very much. Anyway, I went to pick them up and found two guys struggling to fill all the orders. They proceeded to explain that due to the game, they were extremely busy. They asked if I had a watch party going on since all 109 pounds of me was picking up multiple thick-crusted carnivorous pizzas.

So, I explained what was going on at my house. Their first question was, “You’re married to the guy having the party?” They thought it was the coolest thing ever for a wife to “let” her husband have the guys over to play computer games. They thought it was so cool that they let me use two coupons for the pizzas, even though they clearly say “cannot be combined with other offers.” After they got over their shock, they began asking about the games they played. Come to find out, these guys have recently started playing World of Warcraft and are completely addicted. A short conversation ensued, filled with gaming slang and secret codes that only nerdy people know. They told me to call again next time we were having a party, and they’d try to get us a good deal on pizza. Yessss! I am all about discounts.

Of course, when I tried to tell this story to Husband and friends, the coolness factor was lost…I suppose they don’t really care that we could get awesome pizza discounts for all future LAN parties or that the pizza guys think I’m super cool. All in all, it’s not that big of a deal, but it sure was a welcome break in the monotony of: order pizza, pick up pizza, bake cookies, yell that cookies are done, stay out of the way during the mad rush for cookies, bake more cookies…. You get my drift.