Eshtine

Girls Chase Boys part 1

The duty to write about Girls Chase Boys appears to have fallen on me. There are only a limited number of people in this worldóthirty at mostówho ever knew the slightest thing concerning it, and most have surely forgotten. None of the ones who do remember have written anything down. So I must.
To begin, Girls Chase Boys was a simple game. It has been my custom to credit its invention to Jennifer P., in kindergarten, which was (sigh) 22 years ago. I donít know why Iíve always given her this credit. I think she denied her involvement if I ever mentioned my theory to her. However, since I am writing the definitive work on Girls Chase Boys, I can set this fact down and even if it is wrong it will be wrong definitively. So: Jennifer P. invented the simple version of the game, in kindergarten, 22 years ago.
This was at St. Thomas of Aquin Grade School. A few words are necessary now about the physical layout and the rules and regulations at this school. It was an imposing tan brick building with three doorsóa massive one in front and two just slightly less impressive ones on either side. (Itís still a mighty presence, and it still has three doors, though it is no longer St. Thomas of Aquin Grade School. That entity ceased its existence the year my class graduated eighth grade, something all of us still count among our accomplishments.) Each entrance had a double set of doors, and the area in between the doors was like a sheltered porchóuseful on rainy days. The outer doors were never closed; the inner doors didnít open until school started. So the cool and dark space in between, about five feet deep and six feet wide, was more a cave mouth than a tunnel.
The side doors were the ways into school from the two playgrounds. As you faced the front of the building, the girlsí playground would be on your right and the boysí on the left. The playgrounds were for lunchtime recess for grades first through fourth; the kindergarteners had their own playground and the upper grades played in the park. At lunchtime recess the genders did not mingle. Before school we could roam about as we pleased.
This being a Catholic school, we were encouraged to attend daily Mass at the church (St. Thomas of Aquin, natch) down the block. Once a weekóWednesdayówas a ìClass Mass,î and attendance was compulsory for this.
So, in short, here was the environment that gave birth to Girls Chase Boys: every day, a few students would be loitering around the school before 8 am Mass. On Wednesdays, a great many students would be loitering around the school. No restrictions were placed on them that early in the morning to segregate by gender, but the idea was stamped in their head that one side of the building was girl territory and the other side boy.

Next time: the actual game.