Unexpected surprise at laser tag

Charlie and I played laser tag on Sunday at Nomads Adventure Quest, an oddly named indoor amusement center in South Windsor, CT.

We also bowled, spent an hour killing zombies in virtual reality, played a round of mini golf, rode the bumper cars, rock climbed, and played lots and lots of video games.

We like Nomads Adventure Quest a lot.

As we entered the laser tag prep area to don our vests and arm our lasers, the employee running things suggested we play a team game:

Charlie and me versus the other two boys about to enter the maze. They were probably nine or ten years old – about Charlie’s age or a little younger – and gung-ho about the prospect of taking us on, so Charlie and I agreed.

The employee re-programmed our vests for a team game, then Charlie and I entered the maze through one door while the boys entered through the other.

The battle was on.

I won’t bore you with the details of the next half hour, but when the game ended and we exited the maze, all four of us walked over to the screen in the lobby where our scores were posted.

Charlie and I scored 15,000 points. I’d scored about 10,000 of those points myself.

Our opponents?

– 340 points

I’d never seen this before. They actually had a negative score.

Charlie and I had demolished them.

Here’s the best part:

After the scores flashed on the screen and the boys saw their negative score, they turned to me and said, “Good game!” Then each of them high-fived me with genuine delight.

They either misread the board, don’t understand how numbers work, or were two of the best sports I’ve ever met.

I’m inclined to think the latter.