My grandma taught me how to bowl.
On free days, she would gather her grandchildren and take us to Miami Bowl on Archer and Pulaski. Like someone who had been coaching all their life, she assessed ball weight against the child’s age and strength. She bought us little gloves to help us keep our wrists straight and insisted on a straight-down-the-middle approach.
Right foot just off center from the middle dot.
Take a step, lower the ball.
Arm over center dot.
Eye on the center arrow.
Bring your arm all the way back.
Line up your eye with the last middle dot, the center arrow, and the kingpin.
Release.
I used that formula in high school when I could finally go to the bowling alley with friends.
I still use that formula today. Somehow, I never caught on to that fancy curveball stuff. No, Grandma said straight down the middle.
My teenage years were bowling, skating, and going to the show (that’s the movies for the uninitiated). And when all else failed, we could just hang out at the mall.
Today, Evergreen Park Mall has withered away. The Brickyard Mall is rubble. Miami Bowl is in the gutters. Rainbow Skating Rink rolled away years ago. And Ford City Mall – RIP.
The remaining places to skate are few. You might as well book a tee time if you want to bowl. If you’re not in a league, few pins for you. The other day, my wife and I went to the movies —$72 bucks. Seventy-two bucks for two tickets, popcorn, and two drinks. In today’s economy, watching a movie is a budget decision.
As we turn our attention to holding parents accountable for “teen takeovers”. And as we deride our children for doing stupid teenager stuff. And as we make moves to criminalize our kids.
Can we take a beat and ask, where are they supposed to go? What are the kids supposed to do with their free time? Where can a kid go for relatively inexpensive and accessible entertainment?
We have spent years criticizing kids for scrolling on their phones.
We love hitting kids with the video game guilt trips. We go to conferences and talk about how kids don’t socialize anymore.
Serious question – How do we, adults, create spaces for entertainment, exploration, and vulnerability? That’s our work. Not our children. And we shouldn’t criminalize our kids for our failures as the adults who created this environment.
