Why Do I Soak? - Shadowstrike Prime .:
By: Shadowstrike Prime
Why Do I Soak?
Ten years ago, when I was just a little kid, I'd have told you "Because it's fun" and ran off, firing away at my friends. At that point there's really not that much to think about, you get a big blaster (the bigger the better) and run out and blast somebody. At that age, it never occured to me that my summertime activity might turn into a full blown hobby.
I got alittle older, and as many of the people I knew were getting into video games and all manner of strange card-collecting games related to monsters of some kind, I still strolled down the soaker aisle of any store that carried them and felt that same, happy, familar feeling I had when I was younger. It wasn't just that the soakers themselves were getting larger and larger, which believe me was a big factor (there's nothing quite like seeing a packaged CPS-2500 sitting on the shelf.) It was the fact that even though I'd grown older, I knew I could still enjoy the same things I did when I was younger. The soakers, and by extention the act of soaking itself was a symbol of youth; no homework to worry about, no looking at the weather report and frowning at the 35 degree humidex or the smog alerts... just picking up a soaker and getting out there.
Another reason to keep soaking, is that more often than not other people will get involved under the right circumstances. Talk about it to someone's face directly, and they might scoff at you, or maybe smile and say "yeah, I remember doing that." But hand someone a loaded soaker on a hot day with plenty of targets, and you've got a fight on your hands. You don't need to pay for ammunition; it's free. You don't have to pay to get into a specialized arena to have a water fight, since any park or front lawn will do. You don't need masks or body armour, just a warm day, a group of people and a faucet. You can have an all out soakfest where no rules other than "Wetter is better" apply and people dump loads of water at each other carelessly, or a tactical game of capture the flag. The options are limitless, and variety is the spice of life.
I've been soaking for a long time. The blasters have gotten better, they've gotten worse, and they've rebounded. The soaker market has gone from being singlehandedly dominated by one company to becoming competitive. I've gotten older and gotten into new hobbies, but I've never stopped soaking, and I don't intend to stop anytime soon. If you ask me why I keep soaking, I could go through all the things I've talked about today... but if you want the short answer, I'll tell you.
Because it's fun.
Posted: 20050729
