It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt

By rick seifert

The Southwest Community Connection, Jun 1, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

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Sometime in the next few weeks I’m going to put up my inviting “Neighborhood Board” sign.

Last August, I made the sign and nailed a crude version to a utility pole at the bottom of our hill.

I confess, board games, while fun, aren’t exactly my passion. I have an ulterior motive in putting up the sign.

Let me explain.

Because I live on a steep street and have only a couple of neighbors at our particular elevation, I don’t know those on the street below as well as I should. Oh, a few faces are familiar, but I can’t put names on an embarrassing number of them.

The problem grows worse the older I get.

The neighborhood kids are virtually hidden. The good news is that many are involved in sports and other organized after-school activities. The bad news is that many stay indoors because outside is “dangerous.” Indoors, with its violent video games and kids’ television programs (brought to you by sugary food manufacturers), is considered “safe.”

So, on that Thursday evening last August, not knowing quite what would happen, I waited at the bottom of the hill with my card table, folding chairs and Chinese Checkers. Sure enough, families slowly emerged with their own games (checkers, Scrabble, chess, Monopoly, Sorry) and their tables and chairs. There must have been 12 of us that first night.

Thursday game night continued right through August and into September until school started and the days grew short. I stored my sign in the garage for the winter and waited for this summer and the chance to renew old acquaintances and make new ones.

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