Let's get punchy.

Writing about military members getting into punch-ups and bar fights yesterday got me thinking about other ways drunk people might be able to work off their aggressions. 

We actually did not have the Rock'em Sock'em Robots when I was a kid. And that was the problem. If only we'd had this fine substitute for physical violence, peace may have reigned in the home.

The genius of the Rock'em Sock'em Robots is that other games would lead you to the fight ("Ha! I sank your battleship!" "You cheated!" "You liar!" Pow, sock, crunch). But this game IS the fight. So you're cutting out the middle man!

Really, all competitive games are a substitute for punching each other. It's like puppies doing play fights. We all instinctively know this. Different games test different skills, sure, but the idea is to fight each other using whatever the skill(s) required. Use this handy chart to see how it works:

Using such games has the advantages of encouraging the development of a wider skill set and making civilization possible. We could not have democracy, agriculture, cathedrals, philosophy, cute little restaurants, or romantic love if we were all just socking each other all the time.

So if you're in a relationship that involves a lot of hitting, or you frequent taverns wherein the entertainment is the evening knife fight, or you just like to punch yourself in the mouth from time to time, consider investing in some kind of challenging pastime. You may develop skills beyond swinging a fist or enduring a blow.


Oh, who am I kidding. In my house, if we'd had Rock'em Sock'em Robots, it would have been the same old thing. ("I knocked your block off!" "You cheated!" "You liar!" Pow, sock, crunch.)