The End of Recess

During recess one day, Reggie found a ball and began to bounce it gleefully on the ground. Sam noticed this almost immediately, and he concluded that it would not do at all for Reggie to continue in his solitary business of entertainment.

"It's not fair that you should have the ball to yourself!" Sam shouted. "You should share it with the rest of us!"

Reggie looked up as an ominously countenanced tribe of first-graders began to encircle him. He stopped dribbling the ball and held it tightly to his chest.

"But this is my ball," Reggie pled. "I found it first."

"It's not your ball," Sally interrupted. "It belongs to the school."

"Yeah, that's right," Sam declared. "The ball belongs to all of us, so you ought to share. It's about time I had a turn with it, you ball-hog!"

"And it's my turn after Sam!" Sally asserted.

"Then mine!" Joe added.

"Next me!" Ronnie yelled.

"Not fair, I'm next!" Mandy cried.

The more each child focused upon securing individual time, the more chaotic the unruly mob of children became. It roused itself like a sleeping dragon, pushed and pulled itself into a somewhat orderly line with the oldest, largest, and loudest children at the front and the youngest, smallest, and quietest at the rearguard.

Timmy, the smallest boy in all the first grade, looked on the situation with detachment. He made no effort to assume a position in line, for if he had tried (as he had many, many times before), he would soon come to the conclusion that his appropriate place was at the very end of the line, and there was no one for him to fight for that that position. It was from this perspective that Timmy allowed himself much time to consider what he would do with the ball once his turn had finally arrived. He noticed that most children spent time either bouncing it, kicking it, or running with it in an effort to abscond with the prize altogether. In any case, he noticed that the primary motivation of each child, once entrusted with custody of the ball, was to ensure that his time with the ball was maximized, which led him to interact with it in various ways (dribbling, kicking, throwing, etc.), while also separating himself quite as quickly as possible from the influence of the group.

"Hold on!" Timmy shouted. "How about we make a game of it so everyone can have a turn at the same time?"

"But what game shall we play," Sally asked.

Timmy thought for a second, then said:

"Reggie, since you were first with the ball, you stand over by that tree and be captain. We'll let Sam be captain of the other team. Sally, Ronny, Maurice, Vanessa, and me will be on Reggie's team. Joe, Mandy, Jacob, Rachel, and Brian will be on Sam's team. The only rule is that whoever has the ball can't run away with it, but he can throw it to a member on his own team. But if someone from the other team gets the ball, then it's the same rule.

"That's good!" Jacob shouted, who was especially agreeable because he happened to be the one holding the ball. "Here, Rachel, catch!"

Rachel caught the ball, but as soon as she did, she was surrounded by Ronnie, Maurice, and Vanessa, who were grabbing at her arms and legs, trying to pull the ball from her grip.

"No, that's no good!" Timmy called out. "You have to give her room to throw the ball. You can't just grab it out of her hands."

"Who cares if I take it from her?" Maurice complained. "If she can't manage to keep the ball away from me, then it's her own fault."

"Listen," Sally interrupted, "Timmy is right. The game won't be any fun for the girls if the stronger boys keep holding all the girls down. There have to be some rules that make it fair for everyone."

"Go play your own game, then!" Sam yelled. "If you want to be a girl, then play with the jump ropes. This game is for boys."

"But the ball belongs to everyone, not just the boys!" Rachel shouted.

"You're a crybaby," Sam sneered.

"But we won't have enough to play if the girls don't play," Timmy noticed. "The game is more fun if there are more people. Just don't be too rough with everyone is all."

"But who says what's too rough?" asked Brian. "There has to be a rule."

Timmy thought again, then said, "Okay, then. There are only two rules. One, no running with the ball. Two, no touching anyone who has the ball."

. . . 

In the end, Little Timmy never got to the end of the rule-making. The bell to end recess rang before anyone had any fun at all.