Xboxes and Embolisms: A cynic's take

So, a story comes out of Britain last week where 20 year old student Chris Staniforth literally played Xbox for so long that his body formed a blood clot that went to his heart and killed him. Doctors theorize that a deep vein thrombosis occurred, which triggers the pooling of blood and the formation of the clot. When the clot travels to the heart, it stops beating and the victim suffers from a fatal pulmonary embolism. Hours of inactivity, with the exception of the thumbs, took this kid's life. Apparently, this kid spent up to 12 hours a day staring at his TV screen in a fantasy world of computerized soldiers and cheat codes. Now the parents are creating an awareness campaign to help others save their children from a similar death.

Give me a damn break. An awareness campaign? Aware of what? That sitting on your ass for half a day, every day, is not particularly beneficial? That being completely devoid of social skills, physical prowess or any motivation to contribute to society should not be the goal of this generation? I feel sorry for these parents for losing their son. I could not imagine the sadness of burying a 20 year old. But let's be real, for one minute at least. This kid is the product of a generation that wants for nothing. He had the time to play games for 12 hours a day. In that 12 hours, he could have been working, playing a sport, or studying. Instead, he chose to live in a fantasy world....and stay in it all day. It's a world that means absolutely nothing, warrants no merit whatsoever, and I cannot think of one positive thing about playing a video game for longer than an hour.

What separates us from our furry and scaled counterparts on this earth is free will. We have the ability to decide what we want to do, unlike the other animals on this earth. This was a 20 year old man (according to the world's definition of a man) who freely decided to sit on his keyster until he died. They call him an "addict," I'm calling it apathy. This is not a drug that alters the chemical structures in your brain. It's a piece of plastic with microchips. Microsoft, the manufacturer of Xbox, released a statement encouraging gamers to "take breaks to exercise as well as make time for other pursuits." Duh. I don't blame Microsoft though, they just make the product. All this kid had to do was hit the "off" button and walk away. Grab a basketball and shoot it. Jog a mile. Go fishing. His body decided to hold him accountable for his inactivity, plain and simple. You want awareness? Go outside and get aware of the Earth in all it's glory. Meet new people. Go on a road trip with your closest friends and take a 1,000 pictures. Take the Xbox and punt kick it into the nearest body of water while you're at it, I promise you won't miss a thing.