Coincidence? Fate? A run-in at the Library

Monday the 18th I went to work as normal.  The previous week I was working at the library, and I thought that I wouldn't be there anymore this week; I thought that I would be working under a different supervisor.  In the morning though, it turns out that he didn't need me that day.  Which meant that I went back to the library to work.  (Every other day I did end up working for him though, so Monday was just an off day).

Not only was I unexpectedly working at the library pulling weeds, but my wife also needed the car that day.  I usually just drive to work and then drive back, but that day one of Heather's friends wanted to meet up with her at the Provo Rec Center, which meant that my wife would need the car.  So Heather and Henry got up way early to drop me off at work at 6:00 am, just so that they could have the car.  Without the car, they would have been stuck at home all day, unable to go anywhere. As it turns out, Heather's friend ended up falling through and they didn't meet up after all.  But Heather still had the car, and still wanted to go to the Rec Center.

All of these things happened out of the blue.  Add to that the fact that the Provo Library is swarming with Pokemon players, and you have the perfect set up for what happened next.

I was pulling weeds out in front of the library.  It was 12:45.  Heather, with the car, who decided to still go to the Provo Rec Center, drives past the library on her way there and decides to come say hi to me working.  So she parks the car and starts walking over to me with Henry.  I didn't notice her then, but someone else did.

As it turns out, my Aunt Denise and Uncle Pat, along with my cousin Danny, also drove into the parking lot at about the same time.  My Aunt Denise never would have seen me, but she did spot Heather and Henry walking over and excitedly called them over.  I look up to see them and I was amazed to see my Aunt Denise and some of her family there.  Now, you might be asking yourself the question, if Aunt Denise and Uncle Pat live all the way out in Las Vegas, what on earth were they doing out at the Provo Library?  Answer: Pokémon.  My cousin Danny is a Pokémon Go player, and couldn't resist stopping by the hottest Pokémon spot in all of Provo.  (They were in Provo, by the way, stopping by the BYU Bookstore on their way home to Vegas.)

We all took pictures and Denise e-mailed my wife some.  I was hoping to get the ones with all of us, but here's one with just Heather, Henry, and me.

It was fantastic to run into my aunt and uncle and cousin completely randomly in the middle of Provo.  We chatted and caught up and took pictures and thought it was the coolest thing ever.  But what are the odds of that happening?  My current supervisor didn't need me on Monday, so I went back to the library, Heather had the car, and her friend fell through but she wanted to go to the Rec Center anyway, and Danny and his parents came to the library at that exact same time due to Pokémon Go.  By the way, I asked Danny and apparently the Provo Library has 4 Pokéstops all clustered together there, which is why it's such a hot spot for Pokémon trainers to go.

Was it coincidence that brought us all together?  Was there some sort of higher power at work?  Does it matter?  If it was from a higher power, was there a bigger overreaching purpose to it?  Or was it just so that we could see each other again and have fun?  I'm not sure.  I don't have answers, only questions.  But either way it was still super cool.

And to close, speaking of coincidences, here's a fun little video for you:

Pokémon Go and the Concept of Community from Games

My current Summer job, as I wait for school to start up again, is working for the City of Provo.  This last week was my first week, and I was assigned to pull weeds outside of the Provo City Library.  This takes longer than you might think, especially if you're going to do it right, and pull out the entire weed by the roots.  So I had lots of time to sit in front of the library this last week.

The Library also happens to be the location of a Gym (or Pokéstop, or Lure? or something; I'm not really sure how this game works) for the Pokémon Go game.  Which means that it is constantly surrounded by a large group of about 50 people at all times, all playing their Pokémon Go game with their smartphones.

I'm working hard pulling weeds, and I get a chance to observe these people.  And what I see is amazing.

I see a group of pretty much complete strangers, all gathered around for a common goal.  I see people who don't know each other reach out to one another for help in their games, and I see them converse over the game: I see complete strangers come together and bond and converse over something they have common ground with.  Questions over what team they're on, what Pokémon they have, how to do certain things, it's just incredible to me.

One of my friends on Facebook put it really well.  She said: "Okay but I didn't know what I was supposed to do at a Pokéstop late last night and so I was about to leave but I saw this car full of people drive to the stop I was at so when they started driving away I honked at them and asked them what I was supposed to do and they said I had to spin the circle and I thanked them and off we all went but how beautiful thanks Pokémon Go for bringing strangers together in the strangest way possible"

As I was sitting there pulling weeds and glancing up, I could see people come to the library from wherever they had come from in order to be part of something bigger than themselves.  And I have to admit I got a little bit jealous.  I envied those with the game Pokémon Go that could just come and be part of a larger group than themselves and hang out and converse freely about pretty nerdy stuff but that was okay because everyone there accepted that. They were part of a larger community, something bigger than themselves.

That's something I think that games have the power to do.  As my brother Alex mentions in his blog post here: Community of Ashes, games have the power to create communities.  It not only gives you something to talk about and connect with, but it also allows you to feel included, part of the group, important.  Games have that potential.  All you have to do is look around yourself when you're outside.  You see those people with their smartphones out walking in a random direction across that field?  Yeah, they're evidence of that.