Natalie, you are should know about Pong!

I have a client who uses MSN Instant Messenger to annoy me during the day off and on. Well, first off the bat, her name truly isnt Natalie. Thats her "Charlie's Angels" name (that should speak volumes right there). She has also gone by Zolla. And ZoLaLa. And Luckystar. And Gawiiiid. Possibly some other names, but rarely does she use her real name, Sarah. My best friend at the company has other nicknames for her, of which the only G rated one I can utter is "Nemesis".

For the most part, Sarah is cool. She is pretty friendly, honest, and silly and prompt when helping me out with work related information and so forth. She is very knowledgeable and seems to do a good job. Now that I have included that information, (so she doesnt totally hate me after reading this) I can get to the purpose of this blog entry. She is one bizarre woman. I wish I had saved all of my instant messenger sessions with her..because I find myself scratching my head when she messages me, more often than actually getting useful information from her or for her. But this one was the one of the most...eye opening..or at least, it was to me.

I believe I am pretty well rounded, and grew up in a good family, in a large city, had a solid education, some very intelligent and caring teachers and friends..etc..but regardless, one day recently I sent this to Sarah over IM for fun:



She asked: "What is 0302"?
I responded: "Its pong...you know"
Silence.
"What is Pong?"

What the fuck do you mean, what is pong?!?!

"The game..pong..the old video game"
"I don't play video games"..and then a few seconds later: "My friend here also hasnt ever heard of pong"

Am I wrong here? Dont most people know about PONG?!!?!? That is, if you are around 30-40 years old, you most likely had a friend who had the precursor to the Atari 2600 with pong, or you had pong on that Atari. You may recall Pac-Man and Space Invaders, but Pong precedes them all! I was dumbfounded.

I asked my wife. She knew pong. Phew. My buddy that calls her "Nemesis", of course knew it. His fiance knew it. His buddy knows it. The 22 year old girl in my office knew it..and she was possibly a bit iffy based on age. My boss knew it. So, Sarah, it aint me! It is you.

The girl who has never heard of "Pong".

Well...now ya know...right? If not..check the below links ok? :) I might have to get you the second one for your birthday/holiday season.

The History of Pong

Amazon book: The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokemon--The Story Behind the Craze That Touched Our Lives and Changed the World