Modern life

[resonant]

Someone gave the kidlet a virtual pet for their birthday. They were sitting on the couch with it, and I was sitting on my chair attempting to concentrate on LJ over their constant babble of comments: "If you push this button? The monkey will juggle bananas! And if he's not hungry, you offer him food and he shakes his head!"

It's something like a real pet and something like worship. I mean, if they neglect the monkey, he will disappear and they'll feel guilty so they'll have to hunt for him and find him and brush him and feed him and give him bananas to juggle. But if they faithfully pay attention to him, he'll lead them into all these new locations, where they'll pick up something called "virtual stickers." They want to take their monkey lots of places, because if they do, he'll get mail from those places, and that will make him happy.

They lost it today and turned the house upside-down looking for it. "Oh, good," they said, "he's not sick or anything. He's just asleep."

Finally they looked at me over the top of my laptop screen and said, "Don't you wish you had a virtual pet?"

Oh, no, honey, I'm very happy with my own digital idol.


edited 2019 to retroactively correct the kidlet's gender pronouns

Comments

[maryavatar.livejournal.com]

Both my girls are addicted to those things. We have meat-space cats and goldfish, but they'd rather clean up cyber-poop. *shakes head*

[slythwolf.livejournal.com]

Well, cyber-poop doesn't smell as bad. XD

[riverlight.livejournal.com]

Hah, that's a wonderful analogy.

[vass]

I'm so glad I'm not a kid any more.

My niece is almost five, and loves anything that's pink, purple, sparkly and/or kitschy. Her mum took her to the two-dollar shop, and she said "Mummy, I think this is the most wonderful place in the world. It has all my favourite things!" No one in her family is ever going to let her forget that.

[kittykatz.livejournal.com]

Oooh how cute. Is it a tamagotchi?

[volari.livejournal.com]

In my Japanese Lit class last semester, we had a anth book to read, Millennial Monsters by....Anne Allison, I think. The whole book was basically about Japanese toys and the world market, but also what they say about modern kids. One chapter was devoted to tamagotchi, especially about the difference between a real flesh-and-blood pet, and a digital toy.

Of course, the book is currently at home, so I can't quote the relevant parts right now. >.

[undunoops.livejournal.com]

My niece had a tamagotchi a few years back, it survived very well, but her guinea pig died of neglect.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

No, it's a Littlest Pet Shop monkey.

Littlest Pet Shop creatures look like demons to me with their diabolical great big eyes, such that the kidlet probably went on someone else's "overheard and overseen" list the day we were in the toy department at Target and she said in a loud voice, "But why do they fill you with horror and revulsion?"

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

[laughing so hard]

The kidlet is very fond of our real cat -- but the cat persists in having her own life and preferences, as they do, and isn't available to play on the kidlet's schedule. I assume the monkey will fill that need better.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Everything I see out of Japan is the cutest thing I ever saw and the weirdest thing I ever saw, simultaneously.