Wednesday, June 06, 2007

By The Way, Who The Heck Is Rubik, And Where Is He Now?

The Rubik’s Cube.

It’s Back.

How do I know? Well, being A Teacher, I estimate I have Confiscated about Seventeen Rubik’s Cubes over the past three weeks. Some of My Students have brought them to Rehearsals. Some, to Class. Others have been caught fiddling with one under their desk. The Rubik’s Cube is like A Weed – Take One Away, and Another One will sprout up somewhere new, probably just on the other side of the classroom. And they Multiply, too. If One Kid has A Rubik’s Cube on Tuesday, you can bet that Four More Kids will have A Rubik’s Cube by Thursday.

Not that I really have Any Problems with Rubik’s Cubes. After all, they are Puzzles, and Puzzles are good for exercising the mind. And we like Children to do that every now and then, especially while at School. But, they are also Totally Distracting, especially to Yours Truly, The Daily Randi, Product of The Eighties. Rubik’s Cubes were Everywhere when I was A Kid. I had, A Rubik’s Cube, A Mini Rubik’s Cube, A Rubik’s Cube Keychain, A Rubik’s Cube Belt Buckle, Rubik’s Cubes Pins, and of course, A Knock-Off Rubik’s Cube. So, when I see that Rubik’s Cube out of the corner of my eye, I want to pick it up and Solve It! “Hey, give that to Me!” I want to say. “I Can Do That!”

When they first started showing up in the classrooms, I told The Kids that I was Their Age when the Rubik’s Cube was first invented and it was A Huge Fad.

“I decided I was going to Solve Mine, so I went to the library and Checked Out A Book that gave me All The Cheats!” I informed them.

“Miss The Daily Randi, why couldn’t you just go Online and Find The Cheats?” asked one student.

“Who needs to go to The Boring Library?” said another.

“Sigh.” I replied.

So, it should come as No Surprise, that it being The End Of The School Year, I have Received As A Gift from Some Of My Students, A Rubik’s Cube. Now, I have My Very Own Puzzle to fiddle with!

“You No Longer have To Take Away Ours, Miss The Daily Randi!” the kids told me.

Well, I wouldn’t go That Far...

Now, if you pardon me, I must go Google Rubik’s Cube Cheats.

10 comments:

Nanette said...

That's hilarious! And soooo weird that it's back!

Boski93 said...

Screw driver - it is the only cheat you need. Pop off the outside cubes and you can go to town.

nita said...

You had better be careful sneaking up on kids fiddling under their desks ... I'm just sayin' ...

Anonymous said...

I think one of the reasons they are back is because of the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, which includes a scene with the Cube....and Will Smith getting into the program b/c he was able to solve it....

Will said...

Mr. Rubik is alive and well and still developing games.

Cybele said...

There was a triangular version that I much preferred. It was sturdier and fun to hold. I still have it. Somewhere.

Will said...

There was also The Missing Link, from the makers of the cube.

Green said...

I read this yesterday and thought "maybe it's an LA thing; I haven't seen them around at all here." Then today I was going all over the city and saw two different kids in Chinatown clutching them on two different buses.

Diane Mandy said...

I guess what is old does become new again. Let's just hope this isn't true for other 80s things. Like leggings....

Anonymous said...

This past weekend there was a competition in Chicago with the speed that tpeople could solve the cube.