The Doodle Game

When we went to school in the 1990s, brace yourselves kids, we DID NOT HAVE PHONES! I know, right? Like every past generation thinking theirs was a simpler time than the present one, we Gen Xers say, “I’m so glad we didn’t have phones when I went to school!” (Echoed most recently with my university friends, because going to the library once a week to check your email was more than enough chore for us -- but more on that at a later…)

The absence of phones in no way negates the absence of distractions. Enter, the “DOODLE GAME.” As many '90S teens will remember, we used to have to cover our textbooks in paper from brown paper grocery bags. The school saw it as a means of protecting the books for future generations to come, we saw it as blank canvases.

Now, Patricia and I are both creatives who lived for art classes and creative endeavours, so naturally we were VERY diligent and studious when it came to… chemistry class. Yeah, no. We both squeaked through the class to get the credit and with enough knowledge to know the elements hiding in the titles of Breaking Bad, and for that I am eternally grateful. (Best. Show. Ever.)

We used to sit next to each other in Mr. Farooqi’s Grade 12 chemistry class, and during one particularly riveting lesson about pH levels, Patricia scribbled on her paper covered text book and slid it over to me. The challenge? Turn the scribble into a viable drawing. Challenge accepted. (*)

Now, this may seem simple enough, but it passed the time VERY effectively while looking like you were diligently taking notes. Your furrowed brow as you thought of how to make this scribble a masterpiece was perceived by Mr. Farooqi as deep concentration on the rates of reactions chapter.

And unlike being able to take away say a phone if you get caught texting, scrolling, snapping or surfing, what was Mr. Farooqi gonna do, take away our textbook?

(*) DOODLE GAME INSTRUCTIONS:
  1. Player One scribbles an abstract doodle of their choice.
  2. Player One passes the doodle over to Player Two.
  3. Using a different colour or writing utensil Player Two must now transform Player One’s doodle into a recognizable image(s).
  4. Once completed, Player Two will now create a doodle to pass back to Player One.
  5. Rinse and repeat. 
Love,
Grace

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