Playing The Game

 

Did you read the instructions when you were born? Of course not. You didn’t know the rules yet so someone had to teach you.

Some things just came naturally but most of it had to be learned by observation, trial and tribulation, education and documentation.

Finding things to put in your mouth and what to do when it came out the other end was possibility taught by a giant person. Some things like don’t touch the stove or run around outside without any clothing may have been self-discovery or corporal punishment. This is too early to understand concepts of conformity.

At an early age religion was introduced with repetition, music, rituals and teachings that had wonderful stories and drawings of people who lived before the giant people you lived with. You must do, as it is written, not how it is interpreted or practiced.

Time to learn how to read. You can’t do anything if you don’t know how to read. This takes comprehension of words put together making meaning of religious teachings to comic books. Once this skill is learned it can be used everywhere because there are words on cereal boxes, newspapers and the next vocational training…textbooks.

Formal training is required because you take too much of the time of the giant people and they don’t have the professional skills to relay important lessons like mathematics and writing. You will need to know this stuff to apply for a job or do your taxes.

Schools, as these buildings are called so not to be confused with churches, also introduce other little people who you do not live with. These strangers are filed in lines and seated together for social adjustment training and conformity. One you identify as a member of a class, groups are starting to split off to specialize in sports, music, art, speaking another’s language, home economics and others; dividing by genders.

As you learn to dress like everyone else, you start to grow out of your clothing that has to be replaced again and again. The closet is also becoming full of uniforms, bats, rackets, clarinets, winter sweaters, bathing suits, Sunday go-to-meeting finery and shoes of every description.

During this period your body will start having pains and problems that will require a trained medical professional to look you over and recommend a solution. For a price they will give you a pill, slice you open or send you to a large building called a hospital. Like school and church, all of this is out of your control and you must do what they say. Follow the rules and come back every year to be put up on the rack for further analysis.

Then, if out of the blue without prior notice, your voice changes, hair grows in strange places, bulges appear and the body races with hormones. Clothing, personal hygiene and style become important to impress the other gender. This is not in the instructions so you got to fake it from here.

Events like concerts, dances and other excuses for social gatherings are made to bring the two genders together to introduce each other before the next step…. dating.

Awkward phone calls are made testing the waters, plans are made and dates are set. Hours are spent on hair dos, fancy outfits and plenty of smelly stuff to impress. Introductions to parents are made, flowers and presents exchanged and the couple goes out of visual range to maneuver a wrestling contest returning in wrinkled clothing. Step one of what is to come.

Once you cross the education finish line, the real decisions begin. Begin a family, further higher learning, acquire an occupation, join the armed services or drop out are all choices that will follow you through the rest of the game.

It is time to start making your own rules. The thought of independence may seem adventurous and thrilling, but there is still pressure from your peers, those who classify as your friends, your significant other, church, work and family. You are not free. You must keep up with how the game is played or become a social misfit or a statistic.

Along with a car, a house, two weeks vacation comes credit cards, loans, taxes, fees and debt. Infidelity, substance abuse, obesity, stress and graying hair are also part of the game. To play this game takes courage, determination and luck.

  Toward the end of the game all those limbering exercises become useless. The bathroom cabinet is full of little plastic prescription vials to be taken daily between the ever-frequent check-ups. Clothing doesn’t have to be stylish as long as it is comfortable. More time is spent staring at the television between naps. Food becomes softer and less tasty. Trips down the hall become an adventure taking longer than a soap opera.

Surrounded by the accumulation of purchases, memorable gifts, generational leftovers and dusty trash one has time for memories of family passed, deceased pets, former cars and houses, foggy incidents with long lost friends like a photo album on the coffee table. Names are forgotten even of the grandchildren.

The end of the game is the same for all the players. If there is enough money left, a building, school or park might be named but for the most part there will be a record of date of birth and death. If you name is carved right in stone, someone may come by some time and say a few words and perhaps leave a flower to die.

 

That is how we play the game called life.