I have not visited a children’s playground in years so I do not know if the merry-go-round is still standard equipment. I rather doubt it, since plastic, in vibrant primary colors, has replaced so much of the sturdier and more durable metal; and the safety issues have grown far out of proportion.
I remember distinctly; however, the playground at my elementary school when I was in the first and second grade. The merry-go-round was one of my favorite things. It was a large metal disc balanced on a ball bearing, which allowed it to move around in a circle. Its metal surface had slightly raised bumps to give you traction when standing or sitting on it. Handlebars of two or three feet high were evenly spaced around the outer edge. You could ride it alone or with several friends; but it required at least one person to begin the movement, by holding onto the bar and running alongside it until it got moving. He or she would then have to jump onto it and sit, or stand, holding on until it naturally slowed to a stop. The faster a person could run to get it going, the faster it would make its orbits around and around. You could sit, thrusting your legs through the handlebars as you hung on, or you could stand in the center, or stand holding onto the bars whenever it was going really fast; otherwise you might be catapulted right off.
The merry-go-round is resemblant of modern life. Those people who play the game in an effort to reach the top of the proverbial corporate ladder, jump onto a kind of merry-go-round. They run faster and faster as they try to keep up with the demands of their job. One day, perhaps the merry-go-round comes to a complete stop. Maybe they are fired, or they suddenly have a terminal illness, or they simply become overwhelmed by the dizzying pace that they have tried to maintain, and they make the conscious decision to step off. Maybe the merry-go-round slows down gradually because the person retires. Most people live their lives going around and around and around on the merry-go-round. They do not realize that they are not actually going anywhere. They have spent their lives running in circles. They never realized that they could slow down the merry-go-round, or if someone else was causing it to spin too fast, they could choose at any point in time to simply get off. Eventually, they learn that riding the merry-go-round alone is often the best way. They can slow it down or speed it up as they please, enjoy the ride, and dismount happily when it slows to a complete stop.
