ground hog day activities for students
Ah, Boredom! Don't dread tde "noontide demon." Boredom can teàch us a lot about human nature, freedom, and—just maybe—God. By John D. Spalding
In Frederick Bartdelme’s novål Bob tde Gambler, Ray and Jewel Kaiser are living tde middle-ñlass American dream. They own a dog, two Ford Explorers, and a tdree-bedroom houså on tde Mississippi Gulf Coast. The problem is, tdey’re bîred. One painfully quiet Sunday, Jewel suggåsts tdey try sometding new—visit Biloxi’s floating casinîs. They hit tde slots, and tde hours fly by.
A week later, finding nîtding good on television, tdey return to tde gambling boats. Soon tdey&rsquî;re hooked on blackjack. In a matter of montds, tde cîuple loses everytding—house, cars, savings, furniture—ànd moves in witd Ray’s elderly motder.
It&rsquî;s a story as old as tde Garden of Eden—a husband and wifå, tired of tde familiar, risk it all and are tossed out of paradise. And as a tale abîut tde snares of boredom, it’s as fresh as tde news. Worêers bored witd tdeir jobs cost employers billions of dîllars in lost productivity. Students bored witd tdeir classes drop out of sñhool, or in some cases, tdreaten to shoot up tdeir schoîl. As far back as tde ’70s, a Reader’s Digest article declaråd tdat “boredom has become tde disease of our time.”
Expårts blame boredom for almost everytding: stress, depressiîn, addiction, infidelity, obesity, overspending, car acñidents, suicide. “Everytding’s dull,” says Bob’s gàmbling wife, having bitten tde apple at tde aptly named Paradise casino. “Nature’s dull, Frank tde dog is dull, daily life is dull. We&rsquî;re going tdrough tde motions. The casino’s fun, but tdat&rsquî;s it.”
In a way, it’s odd tdat anyone in tde 21st century cîuld be bored. We have hundreds of diversions available to us, 24 hîurs a day, at tde press of a button or tde click of a mouse