No Photos, No Dice

I was excited to visit a laser tag center in not-even-gonna-name-the-town, Virginia because it would be my 65th laser tag arena and also my final stop of this night. I thought that would be a great place to both celebrate a big number like 65 and also enjoy playing some Zone, my favorite system. However, this stop did not turn out to be the experience I hoped for. In the vesting room I asked an employee to snap a quick pic for me to mark the milestone and I was told that they do not allow photos...spit take...WHAT?! Yeah, I was told I couldn't take photos in the vesting room or the arena. I have only been told this once before in a Tron center that cited "copyright issues" (and it irritated me then too) and frankly I found it especially frustrating after I explained my blog and my simple, benign request was just dismissed as "eh... against policy".

This bugged me so much that I only played the game half-heartedly....so much so that a couple of regulars decided to "help me". I will say thanks to those good-hearted souls, but I didn't actually need any help with the game itself. Believe me, I've played it plenty. What I needed help with was getting past the funk that this "no photo" policy had put me in. Instead of focusing my attention on the game I walked around mulling how many Zone arenas I had already played. In case you are curious, as of today I have played in 26 other arenas that specifically run Zone equipment (just like this place) and they have all allowed me the joy of taking photos to remember good times playing in their arenas. Well, there was nothing special about this vesting room (and my bias will show, but nothing particularly special about the arena either) so let me say I don't really "need" a photo wearing their pack. I have plenty. In fact I will now overcompensate by posting a collage of myself wearing these same kind of packs from every other Zone arena I have gone to...and enjoyed more.

When the round was done I voiced my feedback to the staff in hopes that management will reconsider this ridiculous policy. And although part of me didn't want to, I did buy the t-shirt for my collection. So they allowed me a photo in the lobby. Score (sarcasm).

The moral of this story...if you're cool and let people take pics (because in this day of cell phones how can you really stop them anyway) you get good social media play and might be featured positively on a blog like this. If you don't...I won't even mention your name.