I miss some of the old playground apparatuses
Or is it apperati? I am not sure.
Was passing out lunches today at Cooper Park and talking with a couple of former students, Will and Carley. The topic was playground equipment.
The single post swinging gate that a kid could hold on and spin around rapidly. A may pole type attraction that you could hang on and spin around.
Remember teeter totters? Don't see them anymore.
By the way, I was always the least popular kid on the teeter totter. When I got on, the other end went up. And if I got off quickly, the other end came down quickly. ( No comments please. I like to think of myself as big boned.)
And merry go rounds, where you could get kids to run along side, turning the thing until you felt like you would fly off.
And the animals on big springs that you could rock back and forth.
The general thought was: How did we survive?
Oh sure, there were occasional broken arms, legs and maybe a spine or two, but those were kids who did not hold on. If you held on, you were ok. And you learned not to get on a teeter totter with someone considerably bigger than you. Kind of a math lesson, or science lesson, in the use of levers if you think about it.
What happened to them?
My guess is one too many park districts, or school districts, were sued because a child was seriously injured. Liability issues drove the fun stuff out.
Maybe the playground equipment needed a better lobby....someone to represent them and claim that they were as much a part of American life as peanut butter and bacon.
If you have a second, tell me which piece of play stuff you miss.
I bet the teeter totter comes up a lot....no pun intended.
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