So, I’m at my kid’s school after school waiting to get them when the bell rings. I’ve put my pair of Unleashed away and am playing my Rally.
A little back-story:
Kids are watching me and crowding around. Of course, these kids are not so well mannered, but I think they’ve realized treating me poorly doesn’t get them results.
Mostly, they have evolved from demanding I give them a yoyo(fail) to asking for a yoyo(also will fail). I told them “if you want a yoyo, talk to your parents about them getting a yoyo for you”. One kid figured “OK, here’s how I’ll approach it” and he told me his mother gave him permission to get a yoyo, ignoring that part about “have your parents get it for you”. He was not pleased this didn’t work out in his favor. They have accepted the fact that I will not EVER be giving them a yoyo. That must come from their parent.
Well, this same kid does have a yoyo. Unfortunately, it’s a crappy NED yoyo. It’s a light-up clutch yoyo. Ugh. But that’s really not the worst part. the worse part is it’s just made poorly. I had to take it apart to re-assemble it just to get the kid started. I got him a new string(YYE Slick 6) but ran out of time to show him how to throw it. He’d doing the typical “throwing it down” mistake of flipping his hand to throw it downwards. At least it’s progress. However, the yoyo is so poorly made, I feel it will break fairly soon. He’s a bit confused why his looping shape yoyo isn’t good for string tricks, but I’m dealing with 1st Graders who are having trouble grasping the concept of yoyos having different shapes. Fortunately, having both on me I can show them the difference between wing shapes and modified shapes.
With companies proving “you don’t have to pay a lot to get a quality yoyo”, I think many of us need to get that message out that there’s great stuff under $15 and even $10. I often use $20 as a starting amount, and that’s becoming an easier and easier target to hit, especially thanks to things like the Classic(even with ugprades), Speedaholic, Surge, Alpha Crash, Griffin Wing, PSG, Asteroid, Lyn Fury(with flowable), ONE, WHIP, even the Loop 808 and Loop 360, being just a few examples that quality doesn’t have to break the bank.
I play what I like when I like. But, when parents ask me “how much”, I will tell them how much the item I am playing costs, but I do try to convey to them that “you don’t need to spend what I did” in order to get a fantastic yoyo. Of course, I’m not anti-kendama, but being yoyo being a primary “go to” item for me, I’m not part of the kendama surge in the area. I won’t lie though, I have 12 different kendamas. I feel I’m merely presenting another option. I feel both choices are good. Parents knowing there are options helps both parents and kids. The only downside is yoyo isn’t as available in my area and kendama is.
Other than that, it was a rough day. I was doing sound for the 7th annual Sacramento Horror Film Festival. 3 days of long hours and little sleep. Roll back home in the early Am of Monday, only to get a couple of hours of sleep before walking the kids to school, and no rest all day. I’m just happy the other kids at the school were acting well mannered for a pleasant change.
Anyhow, time for me to crash for tonight. I have plenty of tasks to do to prepare for my next gigs. However, I think it’s time try to learn a new trick or two, so my objective over the next 48 hours or so is to see if I can grasp all the elements for the next trick so I can work on it without the videos.