An Apology to Kids in South Dakota
Snowmen tackling is a tradition among teens in my former state.
I am still haunted to this day by the hysterical crying from my neighbor as I woke up a few days after Christmas, and I realized that I was to blame.
Now that I am parent, I can see the hurt I caused to a seven-year-old girl.
You see, teenagers in South Dakota get bored very easily on Friday or Saturday nights because there is nothing to do and nowhere to go.
At least that was the case back in the 1980’s when I was a teenager.
A fun tradition (for some)
So some teenagers created a fun tradition to deal with the tedium, and it brings misery to the kids building scarfed snowmen with twig arms, black charcoal eyes, and cute carrot noses and that was the case with my neighbor.
You’ve never heard of the snowman tackling tradition? Let me explain.
It all starts when a sea of glistening snow blankets the winter ground. Some friends pile into a dad’s station wagon and off you go to tackle snowmen.
There are some simple rules:
- You earn one point for a solo tackle
- You earn half a point for a joint tackle
