Crossing the Animals

“Ten more minutes” I say. “It’s 9:47AM and I’ll stop at 11” I concede to no one but myself. “It’s only tuesday, and thursday-saturday are so busy for me this week I should revel in this down time”--me, unable to relax and desperately trying to justify my sudden and severe relapse on a game called… Animal Crossing.

Yes, I’m back in a big way. For anyone unfamiliar with my island (if you’re unfamiliar with the game in general I cannot imagine how or why you’re even reading this right now), no, there aren’t massive changes to my lightly-electronic-store-themed rock in the middle of the ocean, Hhgregg. And no, I did not realize that the now defunct washer, dryer, and TV emporium HHGregg (correct punctuation) was a regional chain when I decided *that* was the path I was going to take in my saved file. Yes, I did use one of those websites to recreate their iconic logo in the middle of my town square though. Guilty as charged.

My relationship with this game is so toxic that I have completely ignored it for more than a calendar year. The epitome of binge and purge. I wish I could even begin to explain why I picked it up again? Maybe I was missing those little 2” tall critters in their adorable tiny outfits? Or maybe I was lacking in being able to express my interior design prowess now that my boyfriend and I are living under his parents’ roof? Who knows.

I do miss having a yard of my own though. I miss North Carolina in general. The weather here outside of Chicago this time of year oscillates from gorgeous stunning “I could do anything” sunshine, to the most depressing gray “I wish I was dust because dust has more energy than I do right now” kinda thing. In North Carolina we’d get that “I can do anything” type of weather for weeks on end, and you just wouldn’t do anything by choice. Too much of a good thing I suppose.

When I say I am going through something with this game though, I mean it. Earlier today I called four different stores asking if they had amiibo cards I could buy. Bleak. Before that even, I was up DMing a stranger who lives in Australia about trying to snag a specific villager, a dog named Cherry, from her. After an hour of both of us failing to make it happen the sweet Australian surrendered–it was after 1AM where she lives. Ugh time zones! We need to do away with time zones!!

One of the places I called was GameStop. Of course they were out of these hot commodity not-quite-trading, more like the intersection-of-technology-and-collectibility cards, but the person who answered the phone could relate. They told me they had “piles” of them at home. They bought cases, not packs during the pandemic to avoid scalpers and re-sellers who were inflating the costs x10. It’s so crazy that there’s a community of people who were all so specifically obsessed with one thing during a global pandemic? Like, could you imagine if the Tickle Me Elmo craze of 1996 happened when no one could leave their house, but HAD to HAVE a tiny red doll? Anyways, the GameStop employee took my name and number down and said they’d text me once they got home. I hope they like my music one day.