When bad things happen to good SIMs (tm)

(first published on www.theooze.com, May 2004)
by Diana Baldwin

I named them, built them a house, bought their furniture, ordered pizza and sent them off to work. I introduced them to the neighbors, who they promptly offended. I told them when to clean up, picked out their clothes, and made sure they got enough rest.

I guess playing The SIMs is a little like "playing God" but I hadn't really thought about it. The simulation of family life situations game had become wildly popular and I wanted to know why.My SIM family, William Montgomery and Madison Frances Mars started out with $20,000 so I bought them the cheap house.

They needed rest so I got them a double bed, a sofa and a recliner. Since William worked at night as a security guard, he often napped on the couch.I put in a refrigerator so they wouldn't get too hungry and a TV so they wouldn't be too bored. When the neighbors came by, I ordered a pizza which they decided belonged on the front lawn. They also left food on the kitchen floor – probably because I forgot to buy a proper table.

The game’s directions said that players should make sure that all of their SIMs needs were met, so that they would behave more predictably. They would sometimes ignore your instructions when they grew tired or hungry. I thought they might be tired of pizza, chips and cold food, so I bought them a stove. This started big trouble in SIM-land.

Though I hadn't seem them use the stove, it had somehow caught fire. They had a fire extinguisher, so I told them to put the fire out, and to their credit, they certainly tried. In fact, they tried, and tried, even after I realized the fire was too big and told them to get out of the house. I even started yelling out loud for them to get out. Madison died in the fire. I couldn't save her.

My cousin has had similar trials with his SIMS. He lost one in a swimming pool when he accidentally deleted the pool ladder. (Well, he claimed it was accidental, but he is 13 and lacks credibility.) Another time they became trapped in their house with a burglar, when he deleted all the doors. I have since read articles detailing similar SIM abuse.

In contemplating Madison’s shocking demise, I remembered how I've heard people wonder how God can "let bad things happen to good people." I've wondered about divine justice myself.

Perhaps God doesn't want us to make bad choices, but we fail to hear him. What if the whole time we're trying to put our proverbial “fire” out, and save all our stuff, God is shouting "get out of the house!" Perhaps we even ignore him.

There is good news for William and Madison. I didn't save the game when Madison perished. I get to start their lives over, and this time, put in a phone so they can call the fire department. I will even get them a kitchen table so they can be tidier. They will probably still insult the neighbors though.

With my own real life, I don't get to start over as easily. Many decisions like buying a home and getting married are made. But I can listen more closely to God from this point forward. If God says, "I know the smoke alarms didn't go off, but there's a fire downstairs and you need to get out!" I can do that. I can leave the house knowing that God was looking out for me the whole time. He built the firehouse less than a block away.