Do Over!

How many times have I heard that, as I went through my childhood in Bellmawr Park, New Jersey? I’m not even sure if it’s used any more, at least in the form that I came to know. But it was very real then, almost sanctified, carrying a weight and gravity second only to the words of a priest or minister on a Sunday morning sermon.

It was a phrase that transcended religion, being used by Catholic, Protestant, and Jew alike, as circumstances warranted. I don’t know that any atheists used it, none of us knew what an atheist was and everybody attended some religious service or another, either on Saturday or on Sunday. I think some of us even thought that, if you died in sin, all you had to do was tell Saint Peter “Do Over!” at the pearly gates, and you’d get a second chance.

It was a popular phrase when you were playing a board game, such as Monopoly, Parcheesi, or Chinese Checkers. (I wonder, is Chinese Checkers politically correct, or has the game been given another name?)You could only use it once during a game, so some of us developed a cautious attitude about spouting the magic words, waiting for the perfect time to wreck havoc on our opponents. When that roll of the dice was going to put you on Boardwalk just after your opponent had established a hotel there was a good time for a “Do Over!”.

We didn’t use the magic phrase while out on the sandlot playing baseball, it was forbidden to use it there. Three strikes was all you got, and, no matter how much you might plead, there could be no change to the rules. Oh, we could be little tyrants in those days! We didn’t allow its use in Tag or Hide and Seek either, although it was sometimes used in Red Rover.

It was allowed in raft racing. For those of you who don’t know, we used to eat a lot of Popsicles in the summer. The resulting sticks were soaked down and woven into little platforms. Once dried in the sun. a couple of upright sticks would be glued to the platform, and a piece of cloth would be glued between them. Our “sailboats” were put away for a rainy day.
When a summer thunderstorm hit, we’d be outside in the rain with our rafts, holding races along the curb, in the water rapidly flowing toward the storm drain. In time trials, if your raft got hung up, the famous phrase would be heard over the rolling thunder, a plea for a second chance. ”Do Over!”

With summer over, and school looming on the horizon, there developed a frantic wish to make the summer season unending, hoping and praying for some sort of cosmic “Do Over!” that would make summer everlasting and timeless. But it was not to be. In school, there were no “Do Over’s”. Late to school, late to class, play hooky, forget your homework, it didn’t matter.

You faced the consequences, paid the price, walked the long mile to the assistant Principal’s office, knowing that there would be equal or greater punishment to face at home.

The older you got, the fewer “Do Over’s” there were.

Oh, if you were a member of that special breed called a golfer, there was the adult version of a “Do Over”, called a Mulligan, that gave you a second chance at the tee, but that was about the only place that it was used. When the back end of your car was lit up by the cruiser, you couldn’t count on a “Do Over” being recognized by law enforcement to excuse that heavy foot you’d used on the gas pedal. Bosses were notorious for not allowing “Do Over’s” when you showed up late for work, preferring instead the time-honored words “You’re Fired!”

In our adult romantic relationships, there were a plethora of things that could go wrong that would not be alleviated by a “Do Over!”. A lot of sweet talk, roses and such, and bountiful mea culpa’s could be used to patch up a relationship, but it went on from the wrong forever changed, with no “Do Over” to make it better.

Holding the body of a fallen comrade, in time of war, as the blood and the life slowly ebbed away, could lead to a tearful, quietly whispered “Do Over”, one uttered knowing that it was not to be, but it was a plea back to our childhood, a plea to make everything better.

Now George Bush gets a “Do Over”. There’s a lot that’s gone wrong in America over the past few decades, and much of the bad was forced upon us by our own Federal Judicial System. From the lowest level courts to the Supreme Court, we have seen decisions made that have confounded logic, boggled the imagination, and chipped away at the Constitutional foundation of our nation.

Now, by appointing two or more judges to the Supreme Court, President Bush has the chance for a “Do Over” of monumental proportions, one that could change the direction of this country and put it back on the path to greatness. We need to hope that our President does not allow himself to be swayed by the schoolyard bullies in Congress. The liberals will fight tooth and nail to preserve their progress in the destruction of the Constitution. Let us hope that our President does not bow to political correctness or to political pressure.

You got your “Do Over”, Mr. President.
Use it wisely.

Copyright© 09/11/05, by Dave Hoffman
Use granted to all who identify author

Beneficium accipere libertatem est vendere.