Recently, we have been studying World War I in the History class I teach. It always amazes me to read of the number of deaths resulting from these wars, and the number of ways man can come up with to kill other men.
When I was young, one of our favorite pastimes was to play Army. We would divide into two forces, and plan great strategies for attack and defense, each group doing its best to "kill" , or capture, the enemy. No one ever really got hurt. Even the dead were miraculously restored as each campaign ended. One of our neighbors had the ultimate fort for these battles. It was basically a Forest Ranger lookout tower, set on top of four telephone poles. The only access was through a trapdoor by way of a rope ladder. Everyone wanted to be on that side of the war, even if they were the "bad guys", just so you could go into this tower. We didn't have any allegiances, no agendas, except for that specific game. The next game you might be on the other side, "fighting" against your former teammates.
How simple things were. It was just a game. We didn't worry about the political correctness of what we did, we just played. Today I'm a good guy, tomorrow I might be one of the bad guys, but at the end of the day, we all went in for a popsicle, or a drink together. Too bad things aren't that simple in real war. Maybe if we could get everyone together at the end of each day, splitting a cherry popsicle, we wouldn't have the problems we have today. I think I would chip in a little for the cooler to get them there. Take care. Stick
1 comment:
Some of my favorite army games were the mind games with mice armies. Do you remember those?
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