Anything worth doing is worth doing badly.
G.K. CHESTERTON
I do not know where my love for all things basic began. I can identify some stepping stones. One of those stepping stones came after my accident. They gave me a list of games that were good for brain rehab and development. One of those games was chess. I thought I would play that game until I realized that I could never play the game before my accident. I have never won a chess game in my life except the one where I cheated against a friend I was playing through email. I let the chess computer pick my moves against him. I never told him I cheated. Otherwise, I am a total loser at chess.
Checkers was also on the list, and I have won some checkers games. I decided that was my game, but I also wondered why checkers was hidden in the shadow of chess. The answer is that checkers is considered a pedestrian game for children and beginners and old men down at the barbershop or the general store. Regardless, checkers is my game, and I play it often against the computer online. I find it way more fun than chess.
I wondered if there were pedestrian levels in other activities, and there are. With golf, you have disc golf and mini-golf. Both cost a fraction of the big game mainly because you don't need to buy a thousand dollars worth of golf clubs. With bowling, you just raise those gutter guards to keep the ball in the lane. With cycling, it is the beach cruiser instead of the high end mountain bike/road bike/triathlon bike. With surfing, it is the bodyboard or boogie board instead of the stand up surfboard.
The bottom line with the pedestrian level is that you can have fun with little money or skill. Who would be against this? This would be the gatekeeper. A gatekeeper is someone who tries to block your entry to an activity because you didn't pay the entry fee or membership fee which is usually expensive equipment. This would be the ham radio operator going on CB radio (illegally) and telling everyone that they are breaking the law. Why do they do this? Because it burns them up that someone can buy a cheap CB from Walmart or a truck stop and talk on a radio without a license. Yes, the gatekeeper is this petty.
The flip side of the gatekeeper is the fool who does pay that expensive membership fee for an activity he only pretends to enjoy. The rest of the time is spent parading around the equipment and pretending that he belongs to a tribe of elites. For them, the pleasure comes down to buying things and not owning things. Boat owners are notorious for this sort of thing as they haul around boats that never touch the water.
I am committed to keeping things at a pedestrian level in my life. I will keep playing checkers and playing the kazoo. I don't care to ride a bike anymore, but I will get a beach cruiser from Walmart if I do. I will stick with my CB radio and have no plans to get my ham "ticket." I will eat basic food from the grocery store and Taco Bell because I am not a "foodie." I watch action movies and westerns instead of art films. Ultimately, I enjoy life at this pedestrian level. That is the dirty secret of the gatekeepers. You can have fun without the deep commitment and the expensive toys. They know this, but they have to plunge their heads into the black hole of denial. You go have some fun, Gentle Reader. You don't need anyone's permission.
