Escape

At school, I currently work part time (9 hours / week) at the school eatery as a cashier. It's not the most glamorous job in the world, but I find it incredibly relaxing and fun. Which is contrary to general consensus--that a minimum wage job cannot be anything but hell on earth. I brought this up to my dad, proud in my unique ability to see the silver lining on what is considered to be a dark cloud. He then suggested that my part-time job didn't sound like a job, but rather an escape. An escape from the ordinary and mundane life of a student.

Is that true? Was working a cashier job an escape to me? It's true that the money doesn't really matter to me. If I think about it, what's truly special about working is the interaction I have with the countless students who pass by. I have more fun in those 3 hours of interaction than I do in any class or study session. I guess it was an escape after all.

This led me to think about what else in my life is an escape? Naturally, I arrived at video games. In the past, no matter how sad or depressed I was, playing video games would allow me to relax and forget about everything. When I had my wisdom tooth pulled out, I didn't even take any pain medications because I was too busy playing GTA4. That's the power of distraction that video games have over me.

Are escapes such a bad thing though? I'm not quite sure. But there seems to be a distinct correlation between my success and the amount of games I play. I like having the option of video games. I have been through some tough parts of my life by surrounding myself in the worlds of Azeroth or Runeterra. It's great that I have such an escape to run to when times get tough. But does this desensitize me? When does it get to the point where the slightest difficulty sends me running to video games' open arms?

On a side note, why is it that recent movies only depict Apple products? For example, when you think of the Mission Impossible film series, you don't think of Apple. I don't associate Apple with spy-gear and badassery, but there was nothing but iPads, iPhones, and Macs in MI4. What gives?
On a side side note, happy 2012!