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Magic: the Gathering: the Addiction
Mine is a cautionary tale, a reminder to all those who suffer from appetites over which they have no control. Those who struggle against a force that renders them powerless. A force that can steal your time and money and leave you little in return except the desire for more. This is a reminder to be vigilant against insidious habits.
I was still an impressionable teenager when Magic gathered me in, caught up in a perfect storm. Fresh out of a short stint in the military, flush with disposable income, and with a well-paying factory job lined up for the summer, the pieces were in place. A love of fantasy fiction and Dungeons & Dragons made me even more at-risk.
Friends of mine had already been partaking and the peer pressure was intense. At first, I found it amusing, the unceasing drive to play, and play, and keep playing until one couldn’t anymore. “Another game?” was the inevitable addendum to any duel. I didn’t realize that I had ceased to be a human to them, instead becoming just another opponent for them to battle.
As is often the case, the customer turns into the dealer, and my friends were no different. They had plenty of common cards to give away, just to whet the appetite. The first tastes are always free, but then they need more from you. It’s no fun beating some basic monochrome deck over and over. The pressure mounts to…
