At Dillsboro Elementary School (1950) we played dodge-a-ball during recess. The game was set up kind of like this: a large circle was etched in the playground with a stick. Students rushed inside the circle to play. Their goal?  Avoid being hit by a soft rubber ball that two players outside the circle hurled back and forth at them from opposite sides of the circle. Many of you will recall this inexpensive game. It was great fun and took our minds off the affairs of our childhood world. But the end of recess meant the end of that fun for that day.

Fast forward to 2018. A dodge-a-ball game is now being played at an increasingly faster pace. Those inside the circle are adults who have paid to play: Donald, Paul, Rick, Michael, Michael, George, Carter, Sean, Steve and a few others whose names don’t come to mind at the moment. There is some possibility that players from Russia will soon get in this game (most likely outside the circle, throwing balls). 

The ball is larger and harder in the adult game. The circle is much bigger, but is re-drawn steadily smaller with the passage of time. The original attackers were: Robert, Stormy, Karen and Michael. When a player gets hit he/she may become an attacker, adding yet another ball for those inside the circle to dodge. Needless to say some of the players have grown weary with the pace of the game. Some have merely taken the hit and joined the attackers, complicating the strategies for those within. The difference most noteworthy is that there is no recess to free the players up. Like the Eagles sang in “Hotel California:” “… they can check out any time they like, but they can never leave.” 

Rather than airing on ESPN, this historic game is being played day and night on several news channels. Things have gotten really hectic recently as the circle grows smaller and more people become attackers. This question looms across America: who will be the last one standing? Some have wondered aloud to friends and spectators — why did I choose to play this game in the first place? 

As famous singer/songwriter Joe South observed: “Oh, the games people play now every night and every day now, never meanin’ what they say now and never saying what they mean.”

Dave Waldrop

Webster