Blind Man
When we were kids, Spaz, Jaws, and I never had a whole lot to do. So most of our time involved making up our own games. Most of them involved seeing how long we could go without killing ourselves. They were always fun, and I enjoyed coming up with new ideas for what to play. On such game was called Blind Man. The basic rules of the game were as follows:
1. There are three of more players. One of the players is designated as “it”
2. The player who is “it”, is to be blindfolded and given a metal rod (hence the name of the game).
3. The “it” player is to be spun around in three circles, and then left to count to thirty.
4. All other players are to hide in plain sight. No one is to hide in an area that cannot be found with ones eyes closed.
5. Once the blindfolded player reaches thirty, he/she will proceed to walk around, and use the rod to keep from bumping into things.
6. Once the “it” player finds another player, he/she is to grab on to him/her and count loudly to twenty while the other player tries to escape.
7. If he/she manages to hold onto the player for the designated amount of time, the player is now “it”, and the game starts over.
The rod was used like a blind man’s cane. It didn’t help. I still ran into things constantly. In fact it wasn’t really used for a whole lot. It was always weird putting on that blindfold. I knew their house as much as I knew my own, yet I could never seem to find where to go once I couldn’t see. One time I walked around in a complete circle for ten minutes trying to find a hallway. The players who weren’t “it” rarely hid. We enjoyed tapping the person on the back and watch as they start swinging the rod wildly, trying to find out who touched them. We would follow right behind the “blind” person without him knowing we were there. We would steal the rod, or just yank on it and run. It was funny watching the guy go crazy trying to find out where we were.
One time I was playing I decided to stand on top of a table. I figured that if I went higher up, I would be harder to find since the blind man rarely check that high. I stood there for awhile until I heard footsteps. I was suddenly aware of my noisy breathing. I was a loud breather back then, and it cost me many games of hide-and-seek. When the blind man entered I stopped my breathe and waited. He didn’t seem to notice me, but I think he suspected someone was in here. I also became aware that I really had to go to the bathroom (something that always seemed to happen when I was in hiding). I shifted my weight to keep from wetting myself. The table creaked and the blind man spun around. Their came a sharp THWACK as the rod smacked me in the head and I fell to the floor. Needless to say, I had got a black eye and was unable to see out of my left eye for about a half an hour.