Last year a dozen students organized the AHS Game Club. The group (now up to 20+ members) meets Thursday afternoons under the good-natured supervision of Randall, my English-teaching colleague.
The kids play Dungeons & Dragons, lots of video games, VR, and even an occasional board game.
I don't attend every week, but when I do, I gravitate to chess, where Randall and I face off in brutal competitions that I consistently win. Yes, I gloat.
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Today I rolled a Ping-Pong table out of the P.E. closet and into the hall by the room where the club meets. I challenged all takers.
We played games to 11 points, and I managed to beat eight students in 45 minutes. I also lost the most significant game to Randall, 11-8, during which he corrected my serving form and humbled me a bit.
A couple of the kids played well enough to make me pay attention. Mostly I lobbed balls back and offered encouragement as newbies grew in confidence, not by winning points, but by managing a few consecutive hits.
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Everything has a COVID dimension.
As I played Ping-Pong, I took off my lanyard and keys. My mask, which I wear on a chain of beads, was also distracting and uncomfortable. I figured my opponents were six feet away and justified removing my mask and tossing it on top of the water cooler while I played.
But any lightening I felt in removing my distracting bead-chained mask was outweighed by my guilt. I have been the model of responsible masking at AHS since school resumed in August. Yet here I was, tugging off my mask to increase my chances of beating 16-year-olds at Ping-Pong.
Pathetic? Yup.
Fun? You bet.
I put my mask back on. I still won. (Except to Randall.)
Enough.
Be well.
Write.
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| AHS Game Club Ping-Pong competition. Randall vs. Q. |
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