I've spent a lot of time over the past 40 years trying to explain paintball to a lot of people;  I had to explain it to my parents when I first started playing, to co-workers, to television, radio and newspaper reporters, three star Generals in the US Army, the police, patrons of various eating establishments, City Councils, Zoning Boards, fellow travelers on public transportation, home owners, and, of course, anyone who wanted to read about it through publications such as The Complete Guide to Paintball (Hatherleigh Press) and A Parent's Guide to Paintball (Liaison Press).

I've employed various techniques ranging from the sublime to the outrageous (audience appropriate, depending upon the reasons for the explanation).  I think perhaps the best and funniest misinterpretation was a Mom (of kids wanting to play for their first time) who thought everyone was actually talking about "Pinball" games. 

It wasn't obvious to me that she was mis-hearing "paintball" as "pinball" at first, but her question about why her kids needed to wear masks while playing pinball in an arcade finally clued me in.  (Another common misunderstanding of the name over the years has been "Painball":  "Why would you call it THAT!?  No parent is going to let their kid play something called that!".  Well, we don't usually call it that, even if it is an apt description some times.)

If you've been involved with the game as long as I have been, you were witness to the "Great Perceptual Wars" that paintball engaged the media with back in the day.  That's when Psychologists were going on TV and telling everyone that "paintball is bad.  Very, very bad.  Anyone who plays has a special place in Hell reserved to them.  A very special place*" because it emulates war, makes playing with guns fun and encourages aggression.  Paintball's response was to get better at dealing with the press very quickly (I even wrote a couple of magazine articles on the subject at the time) and to change both the language used to describe the game ("kill" became "elimination", "gun" became "marker" and to brighten things up like our guns and uniforms (getting away from cammo to avoid the military connection).

(Here's a link to that "infamous" Nightline Broadcast.  The Psuchologist appears at 8:50, but if you want to see some video of "old school" ball and lots of long-vanished markers and other equipment, watch it from the beginning.)

That was a largely successful campaign;  perception of paintball went from suspicion and fear  to acceptance and even a "watching a train wreck" kind of fascination (not universally, but widely enough to make a difference).   

We've still got perceptual issues, particularly in this time of school shootings.  It's completely understandable.  I imagine it would be nearly impossible for teens for form a high school paintball club these days.

All the more reason to continue to engage with the public with positive messages about the sport.

In the past I've used every explanation from "just like playing cops-n-robbers, without the arguments over who shot who first" to "chess in the woods", and from "just like water pistols, dart guns, rubber band guns, t-shirt guns" to "playing a strategy board game with live people". 

What's your go-to argument when you try and explain how utterly fantastic and all-encompassing playing paintball can be?

 
*I know that very special place in Hell.  All the paintballs are dimpled and swollen, the compressor doesn't deliver more than 200 PSI, it's hot AND humid, the referees delight in ignoring calls and over-shooting,  and you are never given enough time in the staging area to prepare for the next game.

HAH!  Sucked you in.  Don't forget:  WCPL's Panhandle Paintball Classic takes place April 1st & 2nd.
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