Yo-Yo, Ma?

The "Hong Kong Yo-Yo Explosion of 2002" has finally begun to subside. 

This plague, this scourge of parents and teachers alike, has burned out almost as quickly as it arose. It touched all our lives -- oh, yes, it did! -- but now, as it's grip on the citizenry of Hong Kong finally ebbs, it's time we record what happened. (You know -- for future generations and stuff.)

As best I can tell, it started around the last week of January. I was walking down the hall of the 5th floor at our school, and was almost struck (in the head) by half a yo-yo (I guess it was a "yo"?). Anyway, my first reaction was, "Hit the dirt!" (a holdover from my old 'Talking GI Joe' days), and thanks to my cat-like reflexes (ahem) I was able to dodge the potentially injuring projectile. But just as I was realizing what it was that I had just dodged, I looked up to see 5 guys running (at top speed) right for me. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" -- and I stuck out my hands to stop them. "What's the big idea?" I asked, (or something to that effect).

But of course they don't really speak English, and I can't speak enough Chinese yet to make myself understood, so we embarked upon our usual awkward and frustrating attempts at communication. I told them (in my best "I know you can't understand me, but I'm a teacher, so listen -- LISTEN GOOD!" voice) to cease from hurtling yo-yo halves at people down the hall. "No! Not good!" I think I remember saying, all the while making the hand motions to express, "You throw things, me not like!"... I think they got the idea.

Anyway, as they walked back down the hall and I turned to go on my way, it struck me, almost as an after-thought, how strange it was that all 5 guys had yo-yo's... Little did I realize what an ominous sign this would prove to be!

Well, the next thing we knew ("we" being everyone in Hong Kong above the age of 13), it was upon us. I would venture to say that within a two week period the "Infestation of Yo" went from "nothing" to atomic proportions... I mean to say, it went from "no one even remembers yo-yo's" to "everyone is getting hit in the shin by some kid with a yo-yo" all in about 10 days. It was fast, my brethren. And there was not a single place in Hong Kong left unmolested.

In fact, I can, without any fear of exaggeration, say that I would have easily wagered (were I a wagering man, which I'm not) that during the third week of February, 2002, one could not -- I mean could NOT! -- go into ANY public place in Hong Kong where kids go and stand for more than 2 minutes without seeing a yo-yo. Really. At any shopping mall, outside any school grounds, on the street, at bus stops, in the subway stations, at church, in restaurants -- I don't care... If kids go there, there were yo-yo's -- and those yo-yo's were heading right for your face.

Some kids had yo-yo's with Ultraman on them. Some had Hello, Kitty on them. Some had batteries and they'd light up when you threw them. You can not imagine, I'm quite sure, the vast variety and selection of yo-yo's that were made available to the Hong Kong yo-yo buying public. You could suddenly buy yo-yo's at the grocery, from hawkers in the street, from book stores, from computer stores, from camera shops -- everyone wanted a piece of this game.

And what was so funny was that no one seemed to be able to do any tricks. In fact, most kids couldn't even just throw the yo-yo like a normal guy. I wish I had a dollar for every kid I saw who would wind up the string, carefully put it 'round their finger, and then hurl the yo-yo out into space, only to have it just crash to the ground once the string was unwound. Then they'd wind up the string again and start all over. For these kids, the only difference between "I'm playing with my yo-yo" and "I'm throwing a plastic toy across the room" is that the yo-yo was attached to their finger by a string. 

Or better yet were the really small kids, the 4, 5, and 6 year olds who were too short to throw a yo-yo anyway. Their preferred method was to "walk the dog" so to speak -- but don't mistake this for the actual yo-yo trick of the same name. These kids would wind up the string, then hold the yo-yo on the ground and (very gently) roll it away from them -- you can think of it as "slow-motion yo-yo bowling." The yo-yo would roll out all the way to the end of the string and stop; then they'd stand up and walk backwards (the "walking the dog" part), using the rolling action of the yo-yo on the floor to re-wind the string. As the string re-wound, they would have to crouch lower and lower -- by the time the string was completely re-wound, they had worked their way back to the floor and were ready to go bowling again. Little girls were especially fond of this method.

But now, after weeks of ubiquity, the yo-yo's are finally disappearing. I'm pretty sure they've been banned at all schools -- we banned them at our school almost immediately. And let's face it, when all you can do is toss it out and then rewind the string by hand, what's the point? 

As to what started this whole craze, I have been told over and over (when asking) that "there is a cartoon with a yo-yo on it." I mean to say that this is the same answer I've gotten, almost verbatim, every single time I've asked. I've never been confident about how to interpret this statement -- is it an actual animated cartoon? or when HK people say "cartoon" do they just mean "a kids' show"? I'm not sure. But whatever it is, if their intent was to sell yo-yo's, it worked like a charm. 

A spinning, light-in-the-dark, Hello, Kitty charm...

. . .

About a week ago, when I first really started noticing that there were less yo-yo's in my life, I saw a commercial on TV for a special concert performance coming up with the Hong Kong Philharmonic. 

Who better as featured soloist than the man himself:  Yo Yo Ma

(I just couldn't help chuckling at that one)...

. . .

Just an "update" on this one, you should check out the story on the NEXT big thing -- HERE

This article was first posted: 15 March 2002

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