fun
This weekend I volunteered for the Come Out and Play urban games festival, which was hosted by Eyebeam. Come Out and Play featured 26 games ranging from snagu, a “camera-phone scavenger hunt,” to Cruel 2 B Kind, a game of “benevolent assassination.” On Saturday afternoon I volunteered for the game Manhattan MEGAputt, a par 1,000 mini-golf game that travelled from Thompkins Square Park to Union Square Park.
As a volunteer I had a very specific job: goalie. The goal (i.e. the hole) was between two trees, and my job, with a hockey stick in hand, was to try and stop the golf balls from passing between the trees. When I first heard that this was my job, I was concerned about my safety; I didn’t like the idea of people hitting golf balls at me. But, to my relief, the game didn’t use real golf balls. Instead it used squishy little balls, so I didn’t have to worry about getting bruised shins.
While I was riding home on the bus after the game, I felt like my afternoon was well spent. I helped people have fun, and I think that world could always use more fun.
Watching adults play games reminds me that just because I am getting older doesn’t mean that I have to act more serious.