To call “Pokemon Go” popular would be a severe understatement.
But just because a rare and magical Growlithe has appeared near you, doesn’t mean you should pursue it ― particularly when pursuing it requires you to turn off the rational part of your brain.
Here are seven examples of people who didn’t listen to their voice of reason. Please learn from their mistakes:
At The Holocaust Memorial Museum
GETTY IMAGES/ PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: GABRIELA LANDAZURI
The game spawned three Pokémon at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., to the dismay of ... almost everyone.
“Playing the game is not appropriate in the museum, which is a memorial to the victims of Nazism,” museum spokesman Andrew Hollinger told The Washington Post in July 2016. “We are trying to find out if we can get the museum excluded from the game.”
“Playing the game is not appropriate in the museum, which is a memorial to the victims of Nazism,” museum spokesman Andrew Hollinger told The Washington Post in July 2016. “We are trying to find out if we can get the museum excluded from the game.”
While Driving
Here's a copy of the $151 ticket- Yukon Police say #PokemonGO while driving nearly caused a head on crash @OKCFOX pic.twitter.com/M0fVkkLyes
— Tom George (@TheTomGeorge) July 12, 2016
At The 9/11 Memorial
@kairyssdal 9/11 memorial in NY too... pic.twitter.com/IGStx5YTPi
— Tim Farrell (@Tim_Farrell11) July 12, 2016
There were at least four so-called "Pokéstops" at the 9/11 memorial, Time magazine reported.
"To make this as a spot in a game, I think that’s wrong,” Mickey Kennedy, 61, a native New Yorker who visited the site, told Time. “A lot of people died here. It’s a place to reflect, not to play a game.”
"To make this as a spot in a game, I think that’s wrong,” Mickey Kennedy, 61, a native New Yorker who visited the site, told Time. “A lot of people died here. It’s a place to reflect, not to play a game.”
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Police Stations
Shutterstock / bikeriderlondon
Police in the northern Australia territory of Darwin formally requested "Pokémon Go" players stop walking into the station, which was labeled a Pokéstop.
"For those budding Pokemon Trainers out there using Pokemon Go," the station said in a release, "whilst the Darwin Police Station may feature as a Pokestop, please be advised that you don't actually have to step inside in order to gain the pokeballs."
"For those budding Pokemon Trainers out there using Pokemon Go," the station said in a release, "whilst the Darwin Police Station may feature as a Pokestop, please be advised that you don't actually have to step inside in order to gain the pokeballs."
Restricted Areas On Military Bases
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Joint Base Lewis-McChord issued a statement warning "budding Pokemon Trainers" against chasing fake characters into areas they shouldn't be: "DO NOT chase Pokémon into controlled or restricted areas, office buildings, or homes on base."
Arlington National Cemetery
We do not consider playing "Pokemon Go" to be appropriate decorum on the grounds of ANC. We ask all visitors to refrain from such activity.
— Arlington Cemetery (@ArlingtonNatl) July 12, 2016
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Generally Sketchy Areas
Denis Tangney Jr via Getty Images
If it's an unsafe space to begin with, think twice. Several "Pokémon Go" players in Missouri were reportedly robbed at gunpoint while playing shortly after the game launched. Pokéballs don't stop bullets.
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