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WoW Addict: A Case of Home Row Confusion

wasdEver plopped down at a computer, placed your hands upon its keys and started to type, only to realize your left hand is shifted slightly from its usual home row position? Perhaps your right hand is affixed to your in-game hotkeys? You may have a case of what I like to call Home Row Confusion. You also may be a WoW addict. It's happened to me, many a morning as I meander into the workplace. I reach my cube and start upĀ  my computer. And then there it is. Home Row Confusion. For a second, I'm a bit confused about why my typing isn't quite there. Maybe I need coffee, I reason. Then, it hits me. Like a ton of fire-bricks dropped by a raging gnome warlock trying to squash a Human down to size (See how HE likes being called "Shorty"). I am sick with a malady so powerful it's causing my brain to think my work computer is a gaming machine when, let's face it, the damn thing can barely run IE. Like the WoW-inspired dreams that proclaim my infatuation with lore, dragons and being stealthy, this symptom of my addiction also frequently reveals itself to me after a particularly long playing session the night before. Apparently, my mind is still in play-mode, and is trying to tell me it would rather be questing among the lands of Azeroth than working. But alas, that is not usually an option at the moment the affliction strikes. Instead, I take a moment to refocus. Pry my fingers off W-A-S-D. And relocate them to A-S-D-F. Sometimes, caffeine is a necessity for them to remember this new configuration. But the long-term effects can wear on. If you don't treat yourself, you could see this symptom popping up more and more frequently until one fateful day when you reteach the world what SHOULD have been defined as home keys from the start. But don't let yourself reach that point, for there is a cure. Clearly, your brain thirsts for more playtime after work or school. Another dose of WoW, a good rest, and you should be good in the morning. Has anyone else suffered from a case of Home Row Confusion? What about any other WoW-related ailments that haunt you IRL?

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