Fun

Nothing refreshes the soul like a little fire powered therapy with fantastic people. With recent COVID closures, practice time at the range has been difficult to come by but this weekend a group of ladies from my shooting league met at the Michigan City Rifle Club for the RCSA Rimfire Challenge. This is a .22 pistol and rifle competition designed to practice speed and accuracy while shooting steel targets.

While gun safety was highly emphasized throughout the competition, there was an incredibly friendly and laid back atmosphere about the outdoor range as each squad of participants progressed through the five stages of the competition, a different arrangement of steel targets at each stage. Everyone was happy to offer useful tips or refill empty magazines while waiting for their turn. As the day wound down, people kicked back to munch on hot dogs and watch the last of the shooters finish.

There was a sense of comradery among everyone at the range. Complete strangers chatted like old friends, easily bonding over a shared hobby. They were all delighted to welcome newcomers with stories of past competitions and to loan necessary equipment. I will definitely be going back for more range time in July.

It is possible to love your job and appreciate your coworkers while still wishing you could smack them upside the head from time to time. This is a natural and nearly inevitable feeling which stems more from spending the eight most wakeful hours of your day everyday to spend time with these people rather than a true ill will toward anyone in particular. While such measures provide comedic relief in cop shows, they’re sure to land any reasonable, non-fictional person a pressing phone call from HR at the very least. There are three magical words to resolve almost any workplace irritation without involving Human Resources. Tactical Laser Tag.

Few things are funnier than watching fully grown adults that you spend your entire professional life with dress up in military gear and run around like five-year-olds. Ideally it is best to bring enough of your work buddies to field two teams. That way you get that little jolt of pride every time you work together to achieve the laser tag objective while also having the satisfaction of getting off a good shot on that guy from the office two doors down from yours. You are relieving stress and pent up frustration while simultaneously supporting a sense of comradery among your coworkers. You might even have so much fun that you’ll all decide to grab a beer or dinner together afterwards. This is the correct order of things. DO NOT go out for food and drinks before entering your nearest tactical laser tag facility as laser tag is first and foremost a physical activity and you will definitely regret that plate of Thursday night wings. Save it for after.

Such was the wonderful and exhausting experience that I had at Team Combat Hobart just a short drive from Valparaiso. My lack of regular exercise and deep passion for food and sweet things was brought into sharp and painful focus. However, despite being incredibly out of shape, I’m looking forward to the next laser tag adventure with bubbling anticipation. It’s so refreshing to meet people all over again in new settings, especially when you’re all wearing army vests and shouldering some mean looking laser guns.