I spend many of my afternoons back from school watching the kids in my street play together. I imagine they are going to be friends forever. The sense of camaraderie they share reminds me of the stories my father tells about his childhood friendships in the military settlements of Tainan, Taiwan. He contrasts them to those of mine growing up in suburban Long Island. I am finally beginning to understand what he means now. It is more or less the way these kids fight neighborhood battles together (real and fake), while kicking and screaming at each other, engaging in a dialogue of intertwining laughter and yelling.. something like that.
The video is of a rubber band jump rope game I often watch them play. They have a way of making rules and bending them. Sometimes without enough players, they find props to make it work. Rather than having two people hold up the rubber bands, for example, they’ll substitute with the jackfruit tree or little plastic chairs. Cleverness on another level.
