I’ve written before about friendship and what it means to connect with people; the loneliness of young adulthood in an increasingly isolated world. So when I began my newest Big AdultTM job in July, I was jaded enough not to hope for anything, resigned to working a desk job in a fluorescent building surrounded by other desks….
But! Now! When people ask me how my job is going, I say something standard about how I’m grateful to have a white collar job that actually pertains to my graduate degree, but then I always tell them that the best part is my coworkers. Not all my coworkers, but the two I work with most closely have brought me a terrific amount of delight and frivolity. We’re the loud and young blood in the office, trying to grind against the great behemoth of bureaucratic mediocrity. Someday our supervisor may realise that he can’t tell any one of us anything without the other two hearing about it in short order, but until then, our group chat on Microsoft Teams remains an active bombardment of shit-talking, work questions, the tea, and silly gifs and memes.
One of these two coworkers, Roy, has recently revealed to us that he’s a not-so-secret gamer. And not just any run-of-the-mill gamer, mind, but a proper Super Smash Brothers gamer. The kind who’s made many of his friends through Smash tournaments and groups as he’s traveled here, there, and everywhere for most of his adult life. He’s really into it, to say the least, and he’s even indulged me and our other female colleague by allowing us into his weird and silly world and introducing us to (baby) Smash tournaments!
We had election day off, and, to stave off the existential dread and angst, I drove with my coworker to meet Roy at a brewery in Ann Arbor to attend what he described as a “super chill” Smash tournament. And, as far as I can tell, he was right—but that didn’t stop from going full on into gamer mode. After they announced the brackets by people’s screen names, he turned to us and said, “I know X, Y, and Z are gonna be easy wins. I’m a little worried about Q, though, I think I recognise that name and he might actually be good….” Naturally, Roy still steam-rolled his way to victory and a thirty-dollar brewery gift card for his prize, but it was a wonderful little glimpse into his Smash tournament world. It was even more amusing because there were only three women who entered the tournament, and my coworker and I were two of them, with the third being Roy’s girlfriend. There was something bizarre but lovely about watching a bunch of twenty-thirty-something dudes drink beer, talk Smash, and generally have a good time in the face of the larger disastrous future of American existence.
Now, I’m trying to read up and watch some YouTube videos before the next baby tournament later this week. And, dear Lord, I had no idea how complicated Smash was. Growing up, playing Smash on our Nintendo 64 console was a treat and a communal activity with my brothers and their friends, something casual and fun. But when I searched for “How to play Smash Brothers Ultimate with Yoshi” on YouTube this week, I found myself buried in information about frame rates, combos, and bizarre terms like attack sourspots and footstooling.
This Thanksgiving, you’ll find me frantically practicing Smash Brothers in my free time and texting Roy with a barrage of questions as I strain to move beyond the most basic of all basic skills so I don’t instantly die in Roy’s gamer world.

love seeing people get into competitive smash! welcome and good luck lol