didnt have keyboards yet so when you turned 16 they just tore your arms off
Ok kids, listen up. I’m about to tell you how utterly bored we often were and what very bad ideas we adopted to address that back in the day.
The above photo is my parents’ generation, not mine, but trust me we had a lot in common. Namely, figuring out something to do with ourselves when we weren’t being herded through school.
The above game is called “airplane”, and it consists of one person grabbing two limbs – limb choice optional but head frowned upon – of another person, then spinning quickly in a circle. Like a death spiral in ice skating pairs, but with the head usually higher off the ground. Side effects could include blood rushes, dizziness, mild concussions, and dislocated shoulders. Lots of fun.
Briefly, in the late 70s through the 80s, “airplane” was somewhat replaced by a contraption we called a merry go round, which was not at all like an actual merry go round/carousel. It was instead a mechanical death trap designed for children. We loved it.
These have been banned in a lot of places, but apparently you can still buy the slightly “safer” versions. Lol.
Side effects sometimes included: flying off at high speed, getting shoelaces wrapped around the safety bars, slipping while pushing and getting trampled by other pushers, and fights breaking out over choice seats on the edge. This was unironically my second favorite piece of playground equipment. Pretty sure I lost a tooth to one once. It was awesome.
In the wake of the banning/removal of a lot of these as lawsuit culture spread to playground injuries (seriously, the first time I saw foam padding under playground equipment, I think my eyes bugged out), kids went back to airplane. Now you all apparently have smartphones and no need for headrushes with a slight risk of trampling/dislocation. So sad. A piece of iconic American kid culture has been lost.
It’s a valid question for me-in the 80′s/early 90′s the police in my hometown did their best to declare RPGs “Satanic” and abused power to “discourage” gaming.
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 