I can’t tell you how many friends, family members and strangers over the years have asked me to take over the controller and get them past a level (usually in a Water or Ice world) or a particularly hard boss, which has always prompted me to ponder if I could make that kind of thing into a business. I know someone whose babysitting job a couple times a week turned into a nearly full-time Tomb Raider-playing job for the mother of those kids until that game was finished. Just a year ago I was playing Super Mario Bros. Wii at a party when I was asked by an exasperated partygoer to get past that same level (yes, an Ice world) on his own Wii for money. I didn’t do it as I had a job then and I didn’t need the cash, but still. I’m not the greatest video game player, but I’m pretty good, especially at platformers (which drive people insane) and I at least appear friendly and trustworthy which helps. It’s not something I’d pursue in our universe – there are safety issues to consider, and it’s not really a career path I’m interested in anymore – but now that I don’t have an office job to hold me back, I have thought about making signs to post around my neighborhood to see if there would be any takers. Who knows?

So how ’bout you BOTpeeps? Are you the one who has to get your family and friends past hard levels? Or are you the one doing the asking?