Ping Pong and Manhood

Top of the evening everyone.

As you walk in the front door at my son's school, about 15 metres ahead of you, the hallway turns 90 degrees. At that turn, the school has placed a ping pong table. That table gets a great deal of use. Jesse loves the game. I never knew.

About six weeks ago, we had friends at the house over Shabbat. They have kids, one of whom is in Jesse's grade at school. All of the kids were downstairs. We were in the living room. Suddenly, we hear laughter and the sounds of ping pong. This is odd.

The teenagers had set up the folding table. They had taken spatulas from the kitchen and found a small plastic ball. As best they could, they were playing ping pong. It was quite funny.

Anyway, Jennifer and I decided to purchase a table. It fits our general idea of having fun activities that do not violate any laws of Shabbat. Jesse went with me to the store. We bought a table. We bought a set of balls. He purchased a paddle for himself. We brought it home.

We got it downstairs. Jesse and I set to putting it together. This was a great deal of work. All of the web information on the table said that this particular model would require a minimum of two hours.

About 15 minutes into the process, I realized that Jesse was reading the directions and telling me what to do next. I said very little thereafter. Following his instructions, we put the table together. It did not happen all in one day.

The next day, he coaxed two of his friends to come home with him and help him finish the job. I came home to find three teenagers building a ping pong table in my basement. The only problem with this is that he promised them dinner. It was the week before Pesach, and we had no food in the house. Anyway, they put it together. They got it turned over.

We now have a ping pong table. It gets a great deal of use. I like ping pong. I have also discovered that it is remarkably aerobic. It is thus good exercise.

It appears that my son is able to get out the right tools and take on a major project on his own. He did good, and did perhaps just a little more than put together a ping pong table.

Good night all.

R/SCG