7 Days of Pokémon Go: Day Seven – Going Viral

Look fam, last week was rough. You watched Black people gunned down by police every day in different cities across the country, 5 police officers were killed after what had been a peaceful protest, and you probably found yourself in more than one unsolicited “All Lives Matter” conversation. We’re there with you. While digesting all of this pain, we have found moments to steal some joy back for ourselves, following the lead of our colleague Lauren Bullock’s column about the Blackest Joy in the form of Pokémon Go. We’re bringing you 7 days of Pokémon Go, our testimonies and our spontaneous moments of delight that have helped us get by. Catch our week-long series here. Honestly, this was supposed to be a whole essay about the feelings of embarrassment in admitting to my crush that I, at 32, had been playing a Pokemon game. It was going to be some kind of reflection on what it is to be a single nerd, trying to explain the geeky shit you love to the uninitiated and feeling comfortable enough with yourself to get over said anxieties. But a lot’s taken place since then. I went on vacation, rode jet skis and got drunk enough to make late night Snapchat posts from the spirit world. But more importantly, I went viral. I discovered Pokemon GO while I was on a lakehouse getaway outside of Austin with my closest friends with a slightly below average phone signal and no wifi password to speak of within 60 to 75 miles. The only pokestops out in the middle of nowhere were dimly lit rest stop…