Telekinesis

While rummaging through some stuff Nathalie had set aside to sell during our garage sale, I ran across a copy of The Sims, a computer game that lets you control the lives of various characters. It's quite fascinating, and even has Nathalie intrigued. It's also become quite the time sink for the two of us.

This game simulates life, in that the characters need to perform bodily functions, shower, sleep, eat, and of course, go to work so that they can pay for things. Nathalie finds that part funny, because when it's morning time in the game, and their car pool shows up, I command them to go to work. And if they dilly-dally, I often scream out, "Go to work you lazy *@$%!" while repeatedly hitting the "Work" button.

Now Bob, one of the characters in the game, is almost living the life of a resident. All he does is wake up, eat a quick breakfast, sometimes pee, get dressed, and go to work. When he gets back from work, I have him pay bills, eat dinner, clean up, and study (so he can get promoted). I let him sleep for about 6 hours a day. He started off doing OK. The mood gauge started off on the positive, but has slowly moved to the negative, despite his recent promotion at work.

I've been working Bob pretty hard. He's constantly hungry. Whines a lot. Bitches about not having any time to have fun. He even peed on the kitchen floor because he couldn't find time to get to the bathroom. (To think such an act was programmed into this game made me laugh despite my initial disgust.)

Now Bob's at the point where he's absolutely depressed and won't obey half my commands. He just flat out refuses to do things. He won't even look at himself in the mirror. He no longer make any attempt to keep up with hygiene, and just walks around the house pitching fits. Last time I played the game, Bob ignored my commands and skipped work. That lazy SOB!

It's funny to see what the computer thinks a person will do when they're living like a surgical resident.