Burses of Honor

Over the weekend I went and crossed off a bucket list item of mine. Paintballing. If you have never gone before you have GOT to go!

This adventure started a bit earlier in the morning than I would have liked, but having to work later in the day, I’ll lose some sleep to try something new. I meet up with one of my friend; we’ll call her J., to car pool to the location. The drive up was beautiful and scenic; the conversation was light and fun.

My nervous had been doing well the whole trip, until we turned onto the road where the paintball was located. Then my stomach dropped to my knees. I had to keep reminding myself that I put on my big girl pants on this morning, so suck it up and do it! (Side note, there are figurative pants, I haven’t found or created actual big girl pants, yet.)

We pulled into the little parking area and went to go talk to the guy in charge. He was standing next to a sign that has a map of the area, which I cannot really figure out what it was telling me. He had us sign a waver saying we can and will get hurt and we cannot sue them for it. I love the fact more of my adventures involve wavers and helmets. It seems like a good indication of fun. The area behind him is covered with a big net, kind of like what you’d see in a bird sanctuary. It’s to keep stray paint balls form hitting bystanders and cars.

While we wait for our other party members to arrive we ask him how this whole paintball thing works. He explains that you load your paintballs into a thing on top of the gun, called a hopper. The paintballs will drop into your gun as you fire. The gun is powered with CO2. The closer you are to when it goes off the more it hurts. When you are ready to shoot you take the safety off and you are good to go. A mask is required the entire time you are in the play area. This mask, makes you feel bad ass as soon as you put it on. (My words not his) The game style is kind of like License to Kill from the game Golden Eye for N64. Once you are hit with a paintball and it explodes then you’re out. Fair hits are anywhere, including your head and your gun. He actually said that aiming for the face mask is a good idea because it is more likely to burst. Wonderful.

Our other people arrive and I go and get dressed. I’m put on some bibs, and for those of you like me who had no idea what that word was until about 8 months ago was, or overalls, and a long sleeve shirt. We get our paintballs, guns, and mask and wait for the game to start. A short safety lesson later I’m walking into the woods going what in the world am I suppose to do? We’re in teams and one starts on one side of this wooded area and we’re on the other. The referee says are you ready? I’m like no, but we start anyways.

At this point, my brain is racing. I’ve never been shot at before. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do besides try and shoot the other team. I go and hide behind a tree. It seemed like the right thing to do. I am also wishing I played more first person shooter video games. I feel like those skills would be helpful right now. I’m looking around trying to see people when all of a sudden someone’s shooting at me. I hear the balls bouncing off the tree, whizzing by me and I’m like this is crazy! I’m hit in the leg and out 30 seconds later. I raise my gun, yell shot and walk towards the area we started in. Slowly the rest of my team and other people head over. The round is over. That was cool.

The second round, is kind of like the first, I have no idea what to do. I kind of go and hide from one tree to another. I keep randomly shooting at people or at least in their direction. This time when I’m shot it is in the mask. The good news is that the paint doesn’t taste that bad.

While I’m waiting for the rest of the people to slowly make their way over I’m realizing just how many soft spots are on your body. I start to wonder about how it would hurt to be shot in the neck, inner arm, inner leg, belly, side, back, love handles, you know what, I’ve got soft spots all over the place! This is the part when I realize that I like the idea of my bibs. It might be a little red neck but I at least have some protection for my soft belly!

We play a few more rounds. By this point I have a little bit more confidence and feel alright with trying to run to other trees to get closer to the other team. Bunkering down behind one tree and having them come to me hadn’t been working out. I did get shot in the arm at one point and yelled I’m shot. But then I looked down and realized the ball didn’t break so I asked the referee if I could keep playing and he said yes. That round I think I shot one person.

We ended up having to leave before I was fully exhausted because of work. However, it was an amazing time. I was starting to become more aggressive. I was learning more about moves, flanking people, and not worrying about if it would hurt. I even have the honor badges of two burses, which are actually quite big. One burse is on my arm and one on my leg.

In conclusion, everyone should try this sport. It doesn’t hurt that bad. The adrelin rush you get is awesome. When shot, make sure to look to see if the paintball exploded before yelling shot. Have fun and happy adventuring!