Introspecting, I think the problem is that I enter a slightly elevated level of paranoia within shops. I am aware that my attention is being deliberately grabbed, that my mood and behaviour is being deliberately manipulated, and that I am being deliberately lied to, without stop. The effort to avoid such attacks – low-level that they may be – is tiring. I find such shopping far from pleasant.<\/p>\n
Pegs<\/h4>\n
There has been a “game” called pegging that has turned up at juggling and unicycling conventions over the past few years.<\/p>\n
Someone would turn up with a pile of laundry pegs, and surreptitiously attach them to people’s clothing or pony-tails. When the victim notices, they are supposed to use the acquired peg to do the same on someone else.<\/p>\n
I hated<\/em> that game. I despised it with a passion. The first time I was ever pegged, the peg went straight into the pegger’s beer.<\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n One crucial point is that it is game that is inflicted on people who didn’t agree to play. I would feel much differently if there was prior consent.<\/p>\n The second point is that it is a game of bullying. It is played with the intention of making you feel good by embarassing someone else.<\/p>\n The third reason is that it fosters a similar sense of constant low-level paranoia. Conversations are interrupted anytime someone casually walks too closely behind you. People are constantly patting their own shoulders and pants looking for pegs. Any sense of being relaxed amongst trusted friends is lost.<\/p>\n Yes, I am guilty of pegging people back in revenge – only the chief instigators of such games, and only because punching them in the jaw over such a minor infraction is socially unacceptable. I have repeated gently touched their backs in fake pegging attacks until they are reduced to constantly fidgeting. Mostly, I have discarded pegs by the handful, both from my back and from the backs of other innocents. Once, when I discovered pegging was being actively encouraged by a convention organiser, I covered myself in several dozen pegs to prevent anyone else from getting any sense of victory by pegging me.<\/p>\n Fortunately, the game has become passe now, and I can begin to relax again.<\/p>\nWater Pistols<\/h4>\n
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