The Monkey In The Middle …....by Jamil Shawwa

I was so naive, thinking that I can set in peace, try to chill, and mind my own business, for a change, that  all of  sudden  I  was awoken by a loud shout out, but not one of those motivational  shout outs for doing a good job, no, but a shout out that beneath it  lies  events that need to be unfolded and completed. The kids had a conference, not sure if the evil power was part of it, but the decision was to reject and deny daddy  moments of peace, harmony and tranquility that I thought that I can smuggle away for myself for just few moments or so. The kiddies, God bless them, refused to leave me in peace, of course not, daddy in peace, no way, must interrupt the old man’s thought process and quietness.. and they shouted again, no, this time, they gave an order, in a unified voice; hey, daddy, come over, so this time I jumped and I complied without questioning, bad habit- but I did not want to shout back, I'm trying to reduce the shouting process in this household- and went to the shouts source and looked at them in silent protest, and  without moving my lips, but with anticipation like George H. W. Bush, Read My Lips, to the democrats, but instead of the lips, I used the eyes, I thought my looks would substitute for my hesitation to ask, expecting as usual something that might not be in my best interest...They looked back in challenging eyes and started, and said, come and play with us, we are playing Monkey in the Middle and we want you to be the Monkey. I said first thanks for the compliment, Monkey is not bad after all, I expected a worse term, a  favorite animal of mine that I often use to describe “ smart” politicians and it starts with the letter "Jack", but thanks God, this time I was spared the resemblance and the reminder. I said ok, what is monkey in the middle, do I have to dance or something or sing, or what. They said nothing of that and those things that you have mentioned are the last  things  we want you to do. We heard you singing and we saw you dancing and they rolled their eyes, looked at each other and back at me and said, all you have to do is to stand in the middle and try to catch the ball that we are tossing back and forth. Ok, I thought, not bad, it could have been worse, like asking me to go for ice skating or something but monkey is ok, monkey is good. And I stood in the middle, baffled, expecting the worse, again, looking  like Peter Sellers in that scene in “Shot in the Dark”, when he went to arrest an alleged perpetrator and found himself in a Nudie Colony and did not know what to do. Anyway, the middle it is, a good place to be, you can see how the ball is going and where and why, you can see the parties playing the game, but there is a problem which is that you need to focus on the ball and not the players, because if you have more than two players, which is how it is usually with a game like this, you cannot keep swinging, or circling to see who is doing what, but if you  focus on the ball up in the air, it is much easier to catch, and once you catch the prize, I mean the ball, then its your turn to be on the aisle and throw the ball to the other parties like Ping Pong and the monkey in the middle is like the net in the middle. Middle Grounds, is it good or is it bad, usually you do not get paid to be in the middle, but you get the joy and the freedom, but then, once you catch the ball, if you choose to catch it or if you get an invitation to be the monkey in the middle and take turns, you are no longer in the middle but you are a party of a game from the inside and not from the outside, so its like a cycle or a circle, it does not have clear rules, except for playing the game, and exchanging roles back and forth....and everyone at some point has to be the Monkey in the Middle..of course that is if you decide to catch the ball and not just standing in the middle avoiding on purpose or not, catching the ball..