We played this one game where the person who was “it” had to close their eyes and feel their way around the play structure to tag someone. The “it” person could yell some word if they thought people were touching the floor and then open their eyes to check. If someone was touching the floor, it was their turn to be “it.” We were all in hysterics. It was nearly impossible to maneuver around an intense play structure with no sight, let alone to tag somebody. It eventually evolved into a call-and-response, Marco Polo-type game, and we all started cheating.
There was a young boy at the playground with his father, and what looked like his nanny and little brother, only he wasn’t interacting with any of them. His dad was engrossed in a book and sat at a picnic table yards away from us. I never saw him say one word to his kid. The nanny was on the phone following around the younger one, who couldn’t talk yet. He was pretty much trying to figure out which way is up and which way is down, aimlessly wandering. I’m not sure he was even aware the nanny was right behind him. She was acting completely disconnected, too engrossed in her conversation to really pay attention to him.
Now this boy, he was maybe six or seven years old. He kept trying to interact with us, John, Katherine, Grace, and I. He was pretty awkward for a kid at his age. Instead of introducing himself or asking if he could play, he would follow around the person who was “it,” the one with their eyes closed, and make faces at them, sticking his thumbs in his ears and wiggling his hands around. I felt kind of bad and asked him if he wanted to play. I told him he could be “it” but he wasn’t keen on that idea. I sort of laughed and joked that he would rather just make fun of the person who couldn’t see. He told me it was probably because he watched too much YouTube. I thought it was so strange. I’ve never seen a situation of such disconnect. It kind of upset me. I felt bad for the kid and wonder what exactly he exposes himself to on YouTube.