Paintball During The Pandemic

[tweeter4]

I went a few times and played one tournament but I have become really turned off from playing lately. People and fields pretty much pretend the virus doesn't exist. No one wears the required PPE, no one social distances, no one takes any cleaning precautions, and the fields themselves enforce nothing. Don't really have the desire to play nor travel to play for the forseeable virus future.

[Nish]

God I wanna play.

[martix_agent]

i agree with fullofpaint. as a minority playing in the south, i've faced my fair share of racism at the field. it's not THE reason i left 20 years ago, but it was definitely one of the reasons.

it's no surprise that this game attracts a more conservative leaning crowd. yall might not see the racism bc you're not where it's being pointed. most times it's one or two dudes that talks racist shit at me. i can let that roll off. but sometimes it's a small group of guys 3-4. that's where it gets uncomfortable and sometimes violent. they'll extra ball me every game. gang up just to get me out. hurl some slurs. shoulder bumps. sidle up next to me in the staging area..."why don't you go back to where you came from"..."go home, foreigner"..."better be careful out there _____. you might get hurt"...etc. these are all things that have been said to me at paintball. nothing yelled and nothing that other people would notice. just for me to hear. and the absolute worst is, if i speak up and talk to a ref, and nothing gets done. then i know i'm fucked. and i'll just leave for the day or maybe never come back.

now, with the way the country is, and how polarized. it can get pretty scary out there. hell, i was driving back from florida recently. forgot to fill up in a major city, and had to pull over in a VERY country gas station. the kind, as a minority, i avoid at all costs. i was the only one wearing a mask. pump my gas, go inside, pay, and as i was leaving to get back to my wife and kid in the car, i had a guy spit on my feet, threaten me and my family. and what the fuck am i supposed to do? talk back. get shot. maybe my family too? no. i gotta take that in, put up with it, and move on. and that's the dilemma i always have to face in the south. if i take a stand, do i lose my life today? do i widow my wife? my kids grow up without a father? these are very real situations and feelings i have to contend with. not on a daily basis, but something i've very aware of.

You've actually had these tings happen to you? That makes me sick to my stomach.

[Lazarus78]

You've actually had these tings happen to you? That makes me sick to my stomach.

yeah, and that's just on the paintball field. lots of other examples. from the time i was in elementary school to a couple months ago, this kind of stuff happens. and i grew up in a major city, went to a large university, and had mostly white friends. my run in with the cops has always been bad (exception was when I lived in nyc). and i know that my experiences have been tame compared to my other minority friends. hell, i had a african american buddy when i lived in new york. he had lived his whole life in the bronx. i asked him how the cops treated him bc my experience had been so positive. he said "they stop me every day." i said, no way. there's no way you get stopped every day. and he dead looked me in the eye and repeated "every. fucking. day." fuck, man. i can't imagine that kind of shit. getting stopped and frisked every damn day? for doing nothing, except being black and walking around? and he was such a sweet guy. always joking around and making everyone laugh. i can't imagine how that fucks with your mind. and who do you turn to? where's the help supposed to come from? that's some crazy ass shit.

and it's interesting. my wife (who is white) has recently started reading up on race and racism in america, and she said something very poignant to me. she said she needs to start being "anti-racist". i said, well i know you, you're not a racist. and she said, no that's different and put it this way. if she saw someone abusing a child in public, she would step in and say something. but if she saw someone being racist, she would have silently judged them and then not done or said anything. being "anti-racist" is stepping in and saying something to those people. it's a more pro-active stance on racism. letting your friends, co-workers, whoever know that that kind of behavior and language is not acceptable. i was proud of her.

anyway. i still want to play paintball bc i love this shit. just know this stuff happens everywhere. and i'm not out here trying to calling everyone a racist, i just want people to be aware of what goes on. and how certain topics and language can be perceived. my wife always tells me that i can make friends anywhere and i've never met a stranger. but when i meet someone who is white, there's that little voice in the back of my mind. and until they show me that they are legit. it'll always be back there.

[Interl0per]

Man, not cool at all I am really sorry to hear this wish you could come play at our local field you'd at least have two or three guys at your side As a kid I lived in a small suburb that was heavily minority so I never thought about it, my parents grew up during the civil rights era and told me about things back then but I always thought it was in the past except for the dinosaurs that hadn't died off yet. Then we moved to a more rural town where there were basically zero minorities and it just wasn't talked about by anyone so as far as I knew it (racism) didn't exist. I think a lot of us are waking up now and while you can't stop people from being shits hopefully we are going to drive them back into the shadows and bring a lot of people out of it -- if we don't wind up in an ethnic civil war first

[Lazarus78]

thanks, brother. it's guys like you that help me forget about all the ignorant and shit people out there. keep on being a good person.

[Nish]

What are peoples experiences in the Dead Zones and Staging areas?

Seem to be safe?

[Lazarus78]

What are peoples experiences in the Dead Zones and Staging areas?

Seem to be safe?

from all that i've read, transmission from being outside is pretty low, and if everyone is wearing a mask, even a paintball mask, it should be lower. and if you can keep that 6ft distance, you should be good. just avoid hanging about in crowds.

[shadow191]

At my local field, staging area is fine as tables are spaced out. They do have a dead box for their woods field that gets crowded so I just keep my mask on and stand outside. It's probably fine but I'd rather be conservative.

What are peoples experiences in the Dead Zones and Staging areas?

Seem to be safe?

[Siress]

'rona made it possible for me to consider playing again due to the extra free time! Went to a field a couple of weeks back with just enough time to chronograph my guns - maybe 20 players there. Looked awesome. Went back this past Sunday and I was the only player there. 😑 Not sure when I'll get to try again... family time, chores, remodeling projects... there's seemingly no end to the responsibilities. Now, I have to say that people in my area (central MA) are not taking it as seriously as I'd like. Everyone thinks they know better - or that following the guidelines to the T means they are 100% a-ok. Being told repeatedly that I don't have to wear a face mask because we're outside and 6' away by someone that's talking to me next to a fan blowing in my direction isn't convincing... I just don't see the point in taking risks, even if the rate of transmittance is low here. That said, I'm still going to try and play again while taking what I consider to be reasonable precautions. Common surfaces are the most difficult to deal with, but wearing gloves the whole time and avoiding contact with anything I might touch again after packing up is probably sufficient. I try not to think about the potential for transfer from a paintball to the face mask. That seems like an incredibly low probability... I hope, anyway.

and it's interesting. my wife (who is white) has recently started reading up on race and racism in america, and she said something very poignant to me. she said she needs to start being "anti-racist". i said, well i know you, you're not a racist. and she said, no that's different and put it this way. if she saw someone abusing a child in public, she would step in and say something. but if she saw someone being racist, she would have silently judged them and then not done or said anything. being "anti-racist" is stepping in and saying something to those people. it's a more pro-active stance on racism. letting your friends, co-workers, whoever know that that kind of behavior and language is not acceptable. i was proud of her.

I grew up playing in north GA and saw a lot of the problems you described and worse. Speaking out against it can and does land people of all types in similar dilemmas that you described. It's untenable, and I honestly don't know what to do about it anymore. So I left. I'm in MA now and things are better - but I have this sinking feeling that it's not for the right reasons. Much of central MA honestly reminds me of being in hickville GA - just with a lot higher population density. I hope you find a good group to play with, Laz. They're down there. Mario was my favorite field owner (Nitro Paintball) in the Atlanta area. I first met him on the field during a scenario game. He chatted with my buddy and local field owner when we crossed paths flanking the opposing team. He struck me then as a genuinely nice guy, and years later after playing a few times at Nitro I realized that this was the same guy, haha. I hope he's doing well. I sincerely doubt that he would tolerate the kind of behavior you're describing. Rather, I think he'd stop all play until the situation was remedied. I hope that's true. Let me know if you find out.

[Lazarus78]

yeah, i've heard good things about nitro, and i haven't been able to get up there. it's about an 45 min from me.

it's funny-sad. like i said before, my wife is white and we live in the middle of atlanta, so it's a very diverse area. before we got married, i told/warned her that we can't live more than 20 minutes outside of any major city. she thought i was joking at first, but she has come around. seeing the shit i have to put up with. not on a daily basis, but enough that she is disgusted. but for me, just being able to walk around town, go to the store, get gas, shop, whatever, and not have to wonder if someone literally hates me for no other reason than the color of my skin, it's nice.

[nerdcore]

Played once right before quarantine. Field reopened in June. Went out to see how safe everyone is being. Staff wear masks in the office/shop and a sign is posted for customers to also wear them, but it's like 50/50 to see customers follow that rule. Because it's small, crowds don't form in there normally so I've managed to avoid getting too close to anyone.

In the staging area, most people aren't wearing masks. Even I'm guilty of absentmindedly not putting mine on between games. The groups don't sit close, again just a normal thing of respecting the comfort zone of strangers, but it's still a risk. I've been going every two weeks, both for financial reasons and to give that time in the event symptoms pop up.

[Falcon16]

Haven't gotten out to play since September 2018, The whole dealing with my ex and court and then getting married in September of last year killed off 2019 and well with Covid and having people in my family that are in the higher risk category it's not really worth it, not to mention it's been a scorcher since the beginning of the month and fields were only legally allowed to open when we moved to stage 3 though a lot flew under the radar in stage 2. My home field is now doing pre reg 30 spot games twice a week. If I do play, with how things are I'd be a total hermit at the field.

[Arthur]

I didn't stop playing for Covid. For a few months there it was private, incognito games of course. The smaller numbers actually gave it a nice spin.

[Donnie]

I get to play more locally but any events keep getting cancelled.

[Jonnydread]

So I left. I'm in MA now and things are better - but I have this sinking feeling that it's not for the right reasons. Much of central MA honestly reminds me of being in hickville GA - just with a lot higher population density.

There’s a palpable difference between northern racists and southern racists. Southern is direct, northern is quiet, but it’s there all the same.

Where have you been playing? We are hitting friendly fire on Saturday if you want to join

[Siress]

I tend to agree with that statement, but there's blatant racism here as well to a much lesser degree. For what it's worth, I think I'd prefer the blatant racism; granted, I cannot say this with any sort of direct knowledge of what it's like. I'm not in the best state to explain that, but basically: a kick to the groin will heal, but hurting my feelings is a lasting pain.

[Jonnydread]

I tend to agree with you. It's shitty and hateful, but at least they're showing their hand.

[Danny72]

I never stopped, BUT when I was doing my thing I took my precautions......keeping space from peeps off the field, sanitizer, etc