THE PLAY HARD

"People who work hard... play hard" seems to be the popular philosophy these days. It's not just advertisers. Employers are using the phrase, or variations thereof, with what can only be described as gay abandon in their pep talks and job specs, I've noticed.

Working hard, I get. Do the job well, diligently, put in the hours. Oh, I'm fine with working hard.

Playing hard - not so much. Who's playing hard? I certainly don't want to play hard. Play's supposed to be fun, that's what play is. Not hard. Never hard. If it's difficult, it ceases to be play. If it's hard, that's work.

Any board game that takes a lot of setting up can be pretty hard. Remember Mouse Trap, with all the balancing of parts and the elastic bands and turning cogs that had to fit together just so? You had to set all that stuff up before the get-go, so that was pretty hard play, especially if you're impatient or, y'know, expected it to work.

So, I guess this is what the corporate go-getters are talking about. They work hard and they play Mouse Trap. Will I ever truly understand their mentality?