The Ghost Leg Game
This is a story from my military days.
There was a senior soldier in our barracks who loved drawing lots with a ladder game.
He used it to assign the soldiers’ night watch duties.
The most dreaded shifts were from 1 to 2 a.m. and 2 to 3 a.m.
Those hours fell right in the middle of the sleep period that stretched from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m., and many soldiers would find themselves dozing with their eyes half-open.
If someone was caught nodding off during the company commander’s late-night inspection, he could be punished by running laps around the parade ground in nothing but his underwear in the middle of the night.
Yet strangely enough, whenever we played the ladder game, there was always one soldier who somehow ended up with those miserable shifts.
We often felt sorry for him.
In life, too, there are times when a ladder game becomes a quick way to make decisions that are not especially important.
Choosing a restaurant for a group dinner, deciding on a place for an outdoor gathering, or picking whose house to watch the Super Bowl at — these are the kinds of things.
Whenever people gather together, even the smallest decision can divide opinions and bruise feelings for no good reason.
At moments like these, a simple game of chance can spare everyone unnecessary misunderstandings and emotional fatigue.
One small trick to making the game more entertaining is to add a bit of contrast to the choices.
For example, when deciding on a restaurant, include both an outrageously elegant and expensive place and a loud, inexpensive one.
It makes waiting for the result far more amusing.
And that soldier who always inspired sympathy in the night-watch ladder game was none other than me.
— From Dawn Light Notes by Ki Jun Kwon
Reflection of the Day
★ We waste more time than we realize on trivial choices each day.
In trying too hard to satisfy everyone, we often end up exhausted ourselves.
There is wisdom in learning to make small decisions lightly.
Sometimes, it is not the outcome but the lightness of the process that makes life feel freer. ★
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