Who you gonna call…

Ghostbusters!
Many of you may have heard of escape rooms. This themed adventure game is a great team builder. Put seven people in a ‘locked’ room (the door is unlocked and participants can walk out of the room if needed), give them a bunch of clues, and have them problem-solve their way out of the room. Relatively easy concept.
On a cool December evening, two of my friends and I decided to have an early holiday celebration and tackle an escape room together. (Talk about strange manifestation, I forgot that E on my Alphabet List was escape room until I looked at the list a few days later and realized I could cross that one off of my list!) We joked that this experience was either going to make our friendship stronger or we were going to walk out of there and never speak to each other ever again.
Considering that in October we spent (and survived) ten days together traveling around Iceland in a camper van, we were likely to come out of  the escape room stronger than we went in. We checked in to our reservation at Escape Room Live – Georgetown and found out that we were with another group of four people. There something calming and nerve-wracking about knowing you have to work together with perfect strangers. The three of us and a Brazilian family of four were the newest Ghostbusters. We made our way to our room and were given our task:  Slimer, the Librarian and Stay Puft had to be captured and flush from the city before it’s pandemonium! We did have the option to ask the wizard escape room team member for a clue but that would kick us out of the running for the top teams.
Were we going to help save NYC in 45 minutes? 
And that was that. The door closed and clock started. Now, there’s no real rhyme or reason to successfully completing an escape room. Everyone does their part to find clue and piece them together. However, personality strengths tend to come out very quickly. Here’s my take on what I remember about our team:
Brazilian Dad – vocal, leader, strong team player, not the best listener
Brazilian Mom – quiet leader, worked well with her daughter
Brazilian Son – persistent, unlocked clues that others became frustrated with, solo player
Brazilian Daughter – persistent, vocal,
Friend 1 – vocal, worked with the dad, slow but okay listener
Friend 2 – worked with the son, quiet leader
Me – floated, supported the smaller teams, recommended using a clue as the clock ticked closer to :00.
We had a healthy mix of team player styles which helped us keep a balance. We were in the second to hardest room which meant that the clues were difficult to solve. The clock continued to tick and we still had to catch all three of the ghosts so I suggested asking the wizard for a hint. No one seemed interested in this idea so we continued to search the room and piece together our findings.
A few minutes later, we caught the first ghost.
And a few minutes after that we caught ghosts two. And then ghost three. We saved NYC and escaped with second to spare on the clock! We took a victorious team picture and then the Brazilian family thanked us and rushed off to catch a ride to the airport so they could catch a flight. (How badass is that? Catch some ghosts and catch a flight…all in a day’s work.)
As we continued our early holiday celebrations with the flavors of falafel, glow of Georgetown, and delightful cupcakes, I reflected on the escape room experience and a similar experience that occurred in Iceland. (I’ll tell you about that story another time.) My tendency to play it safe even though it’s not always necessary to do so.
We were seven smart people who were going to be able to escape the room (and if we didn’t, so what?) but I knew we had a clue available to us and I wanted to use it (damn it!). Even though catching the ghosts without using any hints was going to feel much better. Anywayyy, long story short – do the hard thing because it often turns out just fine, is more exciting, and makes for a fun story.
Who would you tackle an escape room with?