EPTSo I'm one of those college students who plays for fun, I'm low-diamond and so obviously nowhere near ready to think about going pro. But I'm also the stereotypical TL member; I follow GSL, NASL(somewhat), IPL, Dreamhack, MLG, etc.I'm a big reader of the strat forums and if I'm not tweeting something SC-related or making yet another status update (sorry to all my friends >.<) about MKP's recent performance, then I'm checking the tweets of G4MR, LeahJackson, or Dario Wuensch to see if anything new is up. So that's to set up for the simple, yet incredibly profound experience I had this evening.
Backstory: I lied. More setting up seems in order. So I played something in the neighborhood of 20 games the day before Season 2 hit with 14 straight wins to bump myself up in to Diamond come reset day. This was at the end of my semester and as I headed into the summer I promised myself that I would making high diamond by the end of Season 2 (didn't expect it to be so short but meh). I had a rigorous schedule planned for myself, systematically analyzing replays every night(developed a system of symbols to be able to quickly annotate a replay) and practicing several hours a day. I certainly wasn't thinking about going pro and I had no intention of trying to get there, but I did(and still do) want to be a stronger player. And I don't generally go into things half-assed.
Well things fell apart really quick once summer started. Our internet is horrendous here; to the point where even in Diamond I feel like i can't play (I play zerg). A number of times I've lost a sizeable number of banes/lings to tanks because I didn't have them on hold position and I hit a giant lag spike. ^^;;;; On top of that, I started an internship at a Public Radio station but it requires getting up at 5am to travel in to DC and then getting back home at 6:30ish. At which time I often have to help with dinner or do other house chores. Basically, I generally end up with little time to play SC.
The kicker for this summer has been that when I can play, I'm always on edge because I feel like I'm always on call with my folks. It feels like every time I sit down to play a game, I need to do something else. Wash the dishes, paint the side of the house, go for a family outing. And I don't feel like I can turn my parents down because they've been wonderful to me, they let us(my sister and I) off easy from all the work we could be doing. So when they do ask for help, I try to help. It just makes trying to focus on the game rather difficult.
Story:
So I worked at home today and basically was waiting all day to play SC. I knew I had to help with dinner but I didn't know exactly when so I occupied myself with things that I could stop as soon as we were gonna make dinner. Well 8pm is rolling around and we haven't started dinner so I think to myself: "alright, nothing's happened for awhile now, I'm gonna squeeze in a couple games." Literally as my screen was loading the map (TvZ on Scrap; decided to off-race for fun :p 6rax anyone?) I hear a yell from downstairs to come help make dinner. =_= Seriously? Of all the times? It's not before I get into my first match, it's not after...it's right as I'm starting. So I ask the other player if I can pause for 30 seconds, they graciously agree. I run downstairs and ask if I can marinate the chicken in 30 minutes...well since it's getting late and the chicken needs to be cooked tonight, no can do. -_-'' /sigh oh well. So I apologize to the player I'm facing and "gg' out.
I go downstairs and marinate--well season really the chicken. I do the dishes and a few other things because I already can't play so I might as well be helpful. I head back upstairs, annoyed and frustrated. We're also having sliders (mini hamburgers) tonight so I figure we'll eat those while the chicken grills. Meaning there's not enough time to play any SC. >.< I just wanted to play one or two games today and I can't even do that without having to worry about being interrupted.
Well the burgers finish and I head downstairs. And as I'm grabbing a couple sliders and some water I notice something on the counter...the raw chicken sitting in the shallow glassware where I left it. >.< So now I'm kinda pissed. I had been waiting all day to play and just when I get the chance I lose it because the chicken HAS to be marinated now so we can cook it tonight. Well...chicken looks pretty uncooked still. I go into the dining room with my burgers and as politely as possible ask if I should grill the chicken (since we obviously NEED to grill it). To which my dad responds: "eh, it can wait till tomorrow. Just put it in the fridge." TT.TT Kind of a slap in the face to me. I know it seems silly to care so much about a video game, but as everyone here knows, you don't have to be a pro to take the game seriously.
Well I'm mad and I let it be known when my mom asks how I am and I respond with a curt "alright." My family and I are pretty open so it's not long before I tell them what's bugging me. Afterall, I can't be mad at them for something they didn't know they did that upset me. So I start with today's incident which turns into me telling them about my larger goals for this summer and how I couldn't play because I was always worried about being called on.
And this is where many parents would have said, "So play on the weekends. Or so? Games are a waste of time. Or why are you so serious about a video game?" But my parents just looked at me and said, "If it was such a problem, you should've told us ahead of time that you wanted to play and we wouldn't bother you."
Simple right? A few sentences between parents and their son. A basic: you just gotta communicate and we'll respect it. But it's that part that gets me. The respect. My parents don't get SC, they've told me so. They don't get why I like, it doesn't make sense to them (not the game, the appeal). But they get that it means something to me. That it's become an important part of my daily life and that's enough for them. Just because they don't understand it, doesn't mean they don't understand that I love it.
I'm really grateful for having parents who respect what my interests and hobbies, no matter how different or foreign they are to them.
I'm not going pro anytime soon, heck I'll be lucky if I hold Diamond with my recent performance, but I love Starcraft. I love what it stands for, what it means to me and this community. And I'm a very lucky person to have a family that will unite behind me as I continue my dive into the all-consuming blackhole that is Starcraft II.
Tl;dr: My parents may not understand SC but they respect that it's something I love. I.E. They're fucking awesome.
Basically this is a post thanking my parents and showing my love for them in a forum they'll never, ever read. ^^
