or “Why the Idiots Don’t Seem to Accomplish Much Some Days (and some weeks…)”
The word recreation has taken on a slanted… perhaps even negative… connotation in American English. People usually use it to describe some organized effort to play rather than work. American culture worships productivity and thus looks askance at “not-work”. Recreation is treated as trivial, in stark contrast to (important) productive work.
Originally, the word meant just what it says. Recreation: re-create… to create again… renew. A recreational activity is one that allows a person to renew themselves. Ironic that so many Americans work so many hours… and when they need to renew themselves, they choose recreation that requires so much “doing.” For example, by what twisted logic does running serve as a logical way to escape the rat-race?
The Idiots have worked pretty hard in their lives… and they now find frequent renewal in the conscious decision to do very little. People note that the Idiots spent four days and nights in a remote campground and they ask, with varying ratios of incredulity/disdain, “But what did you DO?”
The front seats in the Beast rotate, allowing them to put up a small table, creating a “breakfast nook.” This morning the Idiots got up. They made coffee. They heated cinnamon rolls in the microwave. Idiot He ate a banana. They played three games of backgammon. They played one game of pinochle. They looked out the window. They had a second cup of coffee.
They may not do much else today. Doing nothing can be the most important part of doing something.
