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Hula Hoops and Tinker Toys
Copyright (c) 1995, Nancy VanWormer
All rights reserved
Hula Hoops and Tinker Toys
by Nancy VanWormer
When I was small, we didn't have this problem. It wasn't
available to us (mere children) and if it were, we wouldn't
have had the money anyway. Then one day, in school, no less,
we were introduced to them. By our teacher.
Oh, the glory of them! They tried to show us that only
"stupid" people played with hula hoops and tinker toys. But,
in doing so, they made it most attractive. Their so-called
bad boys were the cutest and most popular. The girls were the
prettiest. They showed them having great fun, while nerdish
(even back in those days) kids looked on disaprovingly.
The nerds got good grades and listened to their parents.
The hula hoop crowd, slowly disintegrated into the scum of
society.
What? From merely playing with hula hoops and tinker toys?
How can it be so? They have already showed us the joys of
playing with them. We couldn't ask our parents, because they
didn't know anything about it.
So we grew. And as we matured, we became more enchanted with
hula hoops and tinker toys, until the day finally came when
we could play with them ourselves.
What a great day. These toys opened new worlds to us! We saw
every day life in a whole new way. Mysteries of the universe
were being unveiled to us.
The funny part was that we shared them. We never stole, or
killed somebody over our toys. There was always somebody
willing to share with us! We were always willing to share
with others. It was like a secret family. We were brothers
and sisters together.
As we grew our tastes grew also. We wanted more advanced
toys. Toys made for adults. They were a bit more expensive,
and harder to master, but we did it. We were in control.
Then one day, as young adults, some of us "grew up". We
realized that we could not play with our hula hoops and
tinker toys forever, and that there were other things in life
to do. Things that were more important maybe? So we slowly
weaned ourselves from our toys, and developed.
And as we did, we watched the few that decided that hula
hoops and tinker toys were what they wanted most out of life.
They stayed children, playing with their toys, while the rest
of us went on to better things. It is funny, now, when we
look at those lost children, we still see the innocence in
them, but it is surrounded by an old person's body. They
seemed to have aged outwardly much faster than we did. Oh,
they still have the same beards and long hair, but it is
peppered with grey and started to thin out. They still wear
the same style clothes, I wonder where they buy them. The
years of playing with hula hoops and tinker toys have taken
their toll.
Now we have children of our own. Our children don't want to
play with our toys, they have their own, more advanced and
technological versions of our toys. They have roller blades
and boomboxes.
The toys are different, dangerous. They were made to be
dangerous. They have a power over people and are even
capable of killing them. Their sole purpose is to hurt.
They were made by different people than made our hula hoops
and tinker toys. They were made for a different reason.
The kids are different. They are not playing with their toys
the same way that we did. They are very protective of them,
and will do anything to get more. They lie, cheat, steal and
even kill to be able to play with their roller blades and
boomboxes.
We are scared for our children in a way that our parents
never were. We played with hula hoops and tinker toys, and we
know the power that is in them. But our children, our babies,
are playing with something more potent. Can they handle it?
We handled it, but it was a different time, with different
kids, and different toys.
We have to take care not to push them towards it like we
were. After all, these are not hula hoops and tinker toys,
the "toys of choice" of the peace generation. These are
roller blades and boomboxes!!