Machetes and Frisbees don´t mix

So you might read the title of this blog post and think “who the hell would think of using a machete while playing with a Frisbee?”

Then you have to realize that a lot of things that occur in this country don’t really mix very well, but they happen anyway.

I let my friend borrow one of my Frisbee discs a couple of months back and told him that he could have it as long as he kept playing with it. I have checked in on him every week since then, and he and his brother are still fascinated by the Frisbee — even if they still can’t get the whole wrist-flicking thing down.

I came by this week to check on the disc.

Ian: Are you still playing with my Frisbee?

Ian’s friend: I can’t play with it anymore.

Ian: Why?

Ian’s friend: My brother chopped it up with a machete.



Ian: Why?

Ian’s friend: He really likes the machete.

Ian: Is this the first time he has machete-ed something like this?

Ian’s friend: No, he really, really likes the machete.

Bear in mind that my friend’s brother is three and has his own machete.

His own machete.

Last time I stayed in that community, I was shmoozing with some of the residents at 9:00 p.m. when I saw the three-year-old run own of the house with his yellow workboots, looking for his machete.

He really, really, really likes his machete.

Now, I was afraid of knives until the age of ten and didn’t get over my fear of the vaunted machete until …. well, there’s still a shtickel of trepidation every time I see someone wielding one of them.

Three-year-olds with their own, regulation-sized machete with unregulated access to the tool is just another cultural difference I have to get over and take into account when I’m letting people borrow my Frisbee.