I am not a NPC on your vacation.

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Abstract

ere. Just because I like helping you doesn’t mean I was waiting for you. You don’t complete my life. I was not a passive, grayed out robot until you came by. You did not will me into existence like Megan Fox did to Machine Gun Kelly.Elon Musk has popularized the idea of the NPC in real life…the non-playable character. And usually, people think of NPCs as service workers, as helpers, as people just doing their jobs and living their lives. Usually, there’s an element of sexism, racism, other-ism to it. These diverse people live in service to you, to teach you a lesson. You are Homer Simpson, you are Stan from American Dad, you are Tim Taylor, and everyone exists to help you learn how to communicate with people with ovaries. Indigenous people are there to give you a spiritual awakening. Everyone is a backdrop for your adventure. Everything is i

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n service of your goals and narrative.What if I told you there was a flip side: That employees in tourist locations have heard all your jokes before, all your questions before? What if we told you that from anyone’s point of view, anyone else can become a so-called “non-playable character”?The truth is, we are all adventurers in our own lives. Some of us live in the places you adventure to, but that doesn’t make us any less real. If I visited your hometown and made it a quest to see your local watering hole as an adventure, would you then be a NPC in your own bar?Do you not exist in your bar, at your job, until I come and see you? What if I came into your bar and placed the burden of livening up my life and giving my life meaning all on you?Or does that seem a bit silly?</article></body>

Non-playable character.

Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Let’s get one thing straight: I love Costa Rica, and I love playing tour guide. In a sense, I guess I am just like a random non-playable character in a video game…standing there and giving you helpful advice as you try to find the bus to Manuel Antonio.

But I’m also a person with my own goals. And I’ve helped people like you find the bus many, many times.

I do not exist, for example, for you to fall in love with and take back to the United States. I have roots here, and I will probably spend a significant part of my life here. Just because I like helping you doesn’t mean I was waiting for you. You don’t complete my life. I was not a passive, grayed out robot until you came by. You did not will me into existence like Megan Fox did to Machine Gun Kelly.

Elon Musk has popularized the idea of the NPC in real life…the non-playable character. And usually, people think of NPCs as service workers, as helpers, as people just doing their jobs and living their lives. Usually, there’s an element of sexism, racism, other-ism to it. These diverse people live in service to you, to teach you a lesson. You are Homer Simpson, you are Stan from American Dad, you are Tim Taylor, and everyone exists to help you learn how to communicate with people with ovaries. Indigenous people are there to give you a spiritual awakening. Everyone is a backdrop for your adventure. Everything is in service of your goals and narrative.

What if I told you there was a flip side: That employees in tourist locations have heard all your jokes before, all your questions before? What if we told you that from anyone’s point of view, anyone else can become a so-called “non-playable character”?

The truth is, we are all adventurers in our own lives. Some of us live in the places you adventure to, but that doesn’t make us any less real. If I visited your hometown and made it a quest to see your local watering hole as an adventure, would you then be a NPC in your own bar?

Do you not exist in your bar, at your job, until I come and see you? What if I came into your bar and placed the burden of livening up my life and giving my life meaning all on you?

Or does that seem a bit silly?