J for Joysticks

I am not much of a video games aficionado. However, there was a time when I did play video games extensively, for a period of two weeks during summer holidays. One of dad's business associates from Singapore had gifted this joystick plus video game contraption to me when he came visiting, unaware that I would have been happier with a stack of books. My parents being the over-zealous parents they are had to set it up, just to make sure they knew how to install it. Incidentally, summer holidays were on and I think, secretly, they were hopeful of one trip less to Landmark if I could be enticed into some other occupation (Nice try - it didn't work out that way). 

It had some 50+ games that I could play, once the device was linked to the TV screen. There was an option to play against the 'system' if there was no second person around. And, being the single child I am with all the neighbourhood kids traveling to their hometowns for the holidays, I had to choose 'system' every single time. The games were quite mindless, one particularly where a frog would jump from one side of the pond to another sticking out its tongue at the right moment to catch its prey, another frog from the opposite direction competing for the same prey. The first time I played it, I got a bad headache. However, from the second time onwards, it got addictive. 

Since I was a single person playing against the system, there was no need for two joysticks, the second one packed and kept in the loft, that ubiquitous place that must still be holding much of our family treasure (second joysticks, extra nuts and bolts, car repair tools to name a few). If you have seen me working on my laptop, you would know that gentle is not my touch with keyboards. Then, how could the joystick have escaped the power of these hands? In a week or two, the joystick started feeling a little loose in my hand. That's when mom took control of the situation and packed off that video game contraption, thinking that I would lose my mind in my overuse of the thing. I tried explaining to her that it was only the strength of my hands at work, but it fell on deaf ears.

Though I crib about it today, I am kind of glad that the gift was packed away for good, and offered to the loft lord, in exchange for my wellbeing. One less addiction to deal with at least.

P. S. This post is the tenth in the A-Z blogging challenge series for April.