Good news (for a change) from the Nintendo generation!

"In my days..." ... "today's kids (something bad)..." etc. We have all been involved right now in this kind of discussions, blaming today's kids of only playing videogames, watching TV and having a lot less real experiences. I must say I was following suit... and then watching the kids see wrestling and crap like that.. ai ai ai...

However, today a young source to-whom-I-promised-not-to-reveal-his-name-unless-in-a-life-or-death-situation gave me some hope in the future, with the following revelation...

"BATE-PÉ" still exists in portuguese schools!! !!! !!!!

Ok... To the non portuguese, this is a mythical "socialization" game (a bit like Sims in today's PCs) where boys and girls get together and challenge/explore interaction male-female. Of course, at the end of the day it is quite harmless, still, girls start practicing the art of dodging guys, and guys, start putting into practice Nash's theories. In lay man terms, approx. 10-12 year old dudes want to kiss 10-12 year old dudettes who pretend not wanting to be kissed (hitting their feet on the floor when they reeeally don't want to!).

Discussing further with my young "source" he started to share with me the scale starting by the innocent numbers... 1- Handshake... 2- Hug ... 3- Kiss on the cheek ... (ok ok, so far so good, these kids today still go step by step) ... 4 - kiss on the mouth (!) ... 5 - French kiss (!!) ... 6 - Loooong french kiss (!!!!) ... oooohhh! Here he stopped to do a CLARIFICATION - these last 2 numbers are not chosen often in playgrounds... ok ok ... so he moved on, straight to the 8, 9 (the 7 is a gap, or he didn't want to tell me :))) etc etc...

And then, the mpdern times and women's emancipation present themselves (even) at "Bate-pé"! When you think things are reaching a limit...
10 - A slap ... 11 - A STRONG slap !!
CLARIFICATION - these are usually chosen by girls and obviously not by boys, because a boy never hits a girl!
12 - a kick ... 13 - a STRONG kick !!! (...)

Well, as we can see this generation of dudes will grow up not only seeing girls hitting their feet on the ground, but also getting slapped. RESPECT!
And regarding the fears about kids and videogames, quoting Jurassic Park, "Nature always finds a way to go around any obstacle and ensure the continuation of the species"

Carpe Diem!

PS - Very HAPPY to realise I have a very open relationship with my "source" even while living in Madrid!