Fun and Games

I like to have fun in every-day ways that cost very little. I get a kick out of little bits of nothing. It helps power me through ordinary days.

When I began working, I started in a large cafeteria of a local life insurance company. I did dishes. That is, I took dirty dishes off trays as they came through on a conveyor belt and got them ready to go through the dishwasher.

I worked with a gal who 'brought the atmosphere with her'. We did all sorts of things to amuse ourselves while we worked. There's nothing mentally stimulating about doing dishes , but she and I had a lot of fun. We used to talk at length about the changes we would make when we became 'president' of the company. Sometimes we would be doubled over in laughter about how seriously we could make these statements of intent, without ever having to go through with them.

During the time we worked together, we suddenly thought it would be great to post a "word of the day" and then sometime during shift, everyone had to use that word. For instance if "PREFATORY " was posted, we'd find out that it meant "adjective: serving as an introduction or preface" and then we'd find a way to say it at a random time, in between the dishes coming in on the belt. As in: "I wonder if the boss is going to make any PREFATORY remarks today at the staff meeting". Or "The warm wind in the winter is a PREFATORY statement that spring is on it's way". When anyone used the word, the rest of us would give the nod of approval (you know the one....with one raised eyebrow and a slight inclination of the chin as to say "not bad! not bad!") This made every day just a little different and gave us something to think about other than how many dirty napkins were on that plate as it came down the belt.

Sometimes I amuse myself by pretending that I run my own random company. It's all the fun with no commitment (or paperwork). I will make up a name of a company and call my friends up pretending that I am the president and they can count on me to solve their problems. Usually this happens when we've been talking about a specific issue that needs brainstorming. I've even been known to make business cards to hand to them. Some of these have been a decorating company, an exercise trainer, a stationery manufacturer, and a party consultant. I might even write them a letter or two in the course of this pretense.

My oldest sister was the recepient of the simulation of the stationery manufacturer. It was in the same era as my dishwashing job. I called the company "Wallace and Co. Productions". Our motto was "If Our Name Isn't On It, We Didn't Make It". I would type letters on my mom's typewriter and both my mom and dad would come in to see what I was laughing about as I composed the wording as if I ran a very successful and well-established company.

My sister was very indulgent and kind to accept my brochures and even wrote me a letter or two in reply. I think she even ordered a few things from the "catalogue". She was probably thinking "Bless her heart, she doesn't have much of a life; maybe I'll order a couple of things just to keep her happy". It did keep me happy. And I have to thank her for allowing me to be creative - even if the products weren't top notch.

When we were first married, we got to know another couple who had a strong aversion to anything second hand. My husband's gramma (an eccentric) would often take the Greyhound bus to our town, and walk up to our place to give us garbage bags of used items. I remember one time, we took a box full of these items and mailed them to our new friends with a note that we hoped they could use them. Then we waited for them to respond. But meantime, we got a lot of cheap entertainment out of it, thinking of how 'pleased' they'd be to be the recipient of such treasures.

If this sort of fun appeals to you, I have two pieces of advice:

1. This sort of fun should never be mean-spirited. To do so is to take all the joy out of it.

2. To tweak the art of amusing yourself, make sure that you are having enough fun for everyone. Not everyone will get the humor of it. If you are enjoying it, then you have all the benefit of amusing yourself to your heart's content, and it hasn't cost you much more than a bit of time and a couple of belly laughs.

Yes, I truly believe it is possible to have fun for a buck or less....now, if you'll excuse me from these prefatory stories, I have some stationery to make.