BewilderedSociety.com

A black ski mask.

In the middle of a Sunday afternoon on campus, its presence was fashionably obnoxious. Not just because of the timing, but also the weather. Though it’s late March and a bit chilly, the conditions were not intolerable enough to warrant winter weather gear.

The mask covered the face of a more portly character whose otherwise youthful appearance anecdotally confirmed he was a student.

My friend and I walked through the John R. Emens Auditorium’s parking garage toward Bracken Library, nearing the masked man and his cohorts. As we drew closer to the stairwell serving as our exit to the sidewalk, the noise around the group grew louder. There was yelling, chaos. A frantic array of oddly dressed people was strewn about the scene. Had I not known better, I’d sworn I’d seen a mugging in progress.

Then I saw a Nerf gun.

Such is my latest encounter with the hordes of fellow students playing this year’s round of “Zombies versus Humans.” Despite my blocking of that Facebook application the saga continues to unfold in the world around me. Fml.

Sunday was not my only encounter. Since the game’s fourth semester launch was reported on March 26, I’ve witnessed a few packs of hungry something-or-others loudly and hurriedly passing through the academic buildings I frequently live in. I can vividly recall one disruptive situation when a pack entered Letterman just beyond my office. They could be heard for at least a minute as they continued down the hallway into the next building, further stealing my attention amid heavy work on my thesis and Facebook status updates.

I can’t afford typos in those, either. The status messages, I mean.

A disclaimer: I’m not against fun. I’m not protesting student involvement in anything. I’m not calling people “losers” or “lame.” I’m simply saying respect other people.

The game is fine. It’s harmless, recreational and gives people a way to relax. We all have our own ways of unwinding – and I’m not attacking a group’s method of doing so. I’m suggesting here that the nature of the people I have seen on campus is sophomoric at best. This, I’m sure, does not include everyone playing the game.

There are places for this activity. We expect everyone else to adhere to these community standards. At last report, Nate Davis never practiced his passes in the lobby of Letterman. The basketball teams are not playing street ball on University Avenue next to Carter’s Hot Dog stand and to an audience of drunken passers-by. The only thing served to the men’s volleyball team in the Atrium is lunch. Ball State’s Singers are not using Bracken Library’s second level for show practice. We keep drinking to bars and off-campus homes – OK, well that part sort of sucks. Still, you get the concept. There’s a time and a place for it all.

It is inappropriate to trek through academic buildings while covered in camouflage and an arsenal of Nerf weaponry that makes China look unprepared. Please: Keep it outside. Avoid heavily trafficked areas like stairwells to parking garages. Darting after people is fine in a field, but jumping out in front of unaffiliated people to catch a bad guy is downright rude.

Sure, I’m sounding like a bit of a curmudgeon. I guess I don’t “get” the game. At the old age of 24 and with six years of Muncie under my belt, I’m perhaps only a few columns away from telling everyone, “Get off my damn lawn.”

Then again, I actually don’t have much of a lawn. Consequently, neither zombies nor humans are the problem there anyway. My neighbors’ dogs appear to have seized that territory just fine on their own, something I wouldn’t mind fixing.

Now where’s my ski mask …

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Originally published in The Ball State Daily News | BEWILDERED SOCIETY: HvZ players must respect all students

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