A few minutes before I started writing this column, my friend Branson came up to my desk to deliver a delightful piece of nostalgia. Who here has played with Legos, specifically Bionicles?
Lego recently came out with a new line of Bionicles, and my friend gave me the honor of building one of them (claps hands excitedly).
Legos were the best childhood toys I could imagine having. When I was growing up, my parents never gave me a gaming console of any kind, which sounded sacrilegious to my college buddies when I told them I had never played Legend of Zelda. But I digress.
Bionicle. Courtesy of Ben Todd.
When I was a novice, following the instructions on the Lego sets was the way to go. As the years passed, my creative itch yearned for more space. The next thing I knew, I started creating my own ships, cars and buildings. At one point, I had enough Legos to form a large base, complete with a wall, arsenal, barracks and more. I could barely fit my base underneath my bed.
Inevitably, I got older and had to box up my Legos and place them in storage. As I did this, I vowed that one day I would return to those interlocking bricks and bring along some younger play buddies, too (I’m talking about kids).
Then I thought, “Gee, I hope my kids will have a long enough attention span for Legos.” Society today is becoming dominated by screens, and by the time I have my own offspring, I can only predict that there will be more. What will kids 10 years from now be playing with? Will there still be room for colorful interlocking pieces of plastic? I would like to hope so, but I already see kids, even those that haven’t lost their first tooth, mesmerized by these glowing screens.
After a few minutes into writing this column, I took a break and started working on my Bionicle set. My eyes widened at the sight of the glossy plastics. I got a shot of dopamine every time each piece fit perfectly into another. The sound of a ball clicking into a socket was music to my ears.
It’s no question that I will always have a soft spot for Legos (and I’m not just talking about the bottom of my foot), I just hope that I can share this creative passion with future generations. I swear on my college academic career that my children, whenever I have them, will fall in love with Legos before they ever know what an iPhone is.
