When it comes to taking interest in things that my kids like, I try to get involved and enjoy what they enjoy… I mean I really try. Sometimes I feel like my parents probably did when I wanted to go to the store and buy a record by The Beatles or The Monkees. I remember my mom having a fit when I, at about age 9 or so, insisted that she take me shopping downtown so I could buy another G.I. Joe (I had two already).

So when my son Matt told me a couple weeks ago he wanted to go play laser tag at Odyssey 1 in University Place, I started getting an instant migraine because I knew the place  can be very noisy and little rug rats are all over the place like ants on sugar. Don’t get me wrong. I love kids. I love having fun with MY kids. I don’t like having to deal with kids who are raised by dumb asses and spend every weekend at Odyssey 1 because they “don’t do well outside in the fresh air,” if you get my drift.

I committed to taking Matt today to Odyssey to play laser tag. My wife insisted that I would have fun; she played it once before and she, who is not a terribly “active” type (nothing personal hon..) had a ball.

We paid for one game because I didn’t know how long I could stay in the place without yelling at some kid who was not mine. We had to wait about a half an hour to get in the laser tag arena (arena?) but that was not too much of a problem. We eventually got put in with another dad and his three kids who had shown up to play.

Once we got in the “vesting room,” (that has nothing to do with Roth IRA’s, it’s a place where you put on your laser tag vest), a very nice young man explained how to put on the vest, how to hold the gun, what you can do, can’t do, etc. He was very patient with the kids in our group as well as accommodating to myself and the other dad who had no freaking clue what we were doing.

The laser tag “arena” (I don’t know what else to call it) was rather trippy. It’s a large room that’s basically a giant maze with black walls, a black floor and black lights on the ceilings. I mean black lights as in the kind of lights kids used to put in their rooms in the 70′s when they were stoned on weed. Not that I really know that from experience of course.

The game lasted 10 minutes; it seemed like 20 or 30 and I mean that in a positive way. I have not had so much fun with a toy gun in my hand since I was a little kid. I was really a hoot! I shot my son Matt several times, as well as the other kids. The other dad shot me at close range.

It’s quite a workout because you’re always running or crawling around to find victims and avoid being shot at the same time. When it was over Matt and I had both worked up a sweat and it definitely got my adrenalin going.

I recommend a good game of laser tag at Odyssey 1 to everyone. No matter what your age or “what you’re into,” I think you’ll have a good time. The noisy part of the place where the ants are crawling on the sugar is a pain in the butt, but in the laser tag arena you don’t even hear what’s going on in the other room. I say give laser tag a shot. I think you’ll like it.

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