Squaring the Circle

a father and son walk to the playground

One day, Daddy Triangle decided to take his young son, Tommy, for a walk through the neighbourhood to go play at a nearby playground. There were actually two nearby playgrounds but he thought they would try Green Park that day and leave the other one for another time. So off they went out their front path to enjoy a day of play.

      As they turned onto the sidewalk, they noticed their neighbour Mr. Ovoid out watering his lawn. “Let’s say hi to Mr. Ovoid, Tommy,” said Daddy, so they did. Mr. Ovoid looked up, frowned, and made a ‘humph’ noise, then turned his back to continue watering the grass. “Oh dear,” thought Daddy to himself. “Tommy doesn’t need to know that Mr. Ovoid thinks he’s better than us.” Aloud, he said, “Come on, Tommy. Let’s not bother Mr. Ovoid. He’s obviously very busy today.” And on they went. Daddy pointed out trees and flowers and insects along their walk. They jumped over cracks in the sidewalk.

      When Tommy and Daddy reached the corner of their block, Daddy took Tommy’s hand to cross the street. “Hey there!” someone shouted. “What are you doing?” A tall oval wearing a uniform came into view. “Hey, you, where are you going with that little one?” Daddy knew that the police officer was just doing his job but he also knew that the officer might not believe anything Daddy said. He looked at his shoes and replied, “Taking my son to the park to play, Officer.” “Your son?” The police officer was incredulous. “Yes sir,” said Daddy giving the officer a quick glance. “This is my son, Tommy.”

      The police officer bent down and put his face in Tommy’s. “Is that correct, Tommy? Is this your daddy, or a stranger? You can tell me if this man took you away from your mommy.” Tommy was confused. Daddy let go of Tommy’s hand and just nodded at him. Tommy was getting scared now. “Who is this man?” The police officer’s breath had a strange smell. “My Daddy,” said Tommy, trying not to cry. The police officer stared at Tommy for a minute. Tommy looked up at Daddy for a clue of what he should do but Daddy wasn’t looking at him. Tommy moved closer to him and grabbed onto Daddy’s leg. “Move along then,” said the police officer.

      Daddy was quiet now and didn’t say much to Tommy as they continued to Green Park. They just held hands and walked close together. They continued for another block and then Tommy saw a place with lots of trees and bushes and gardens. There were lots of kids playing on climbing equipment and in a large sandpit. Tommy tried to run ahead but Daddy held onto his hand. “Stay with me, Tommy,” Daddy said. “You don’t want to get lost.” Tommy was confused how he could get lost running straight to the playground but he stopped pulling on Daddy’s hand.

      Soon enough, Tommy was running and jumping with a couple other kids while Daddy watched from a nearby park bench. Tommy was having lots of fun until he tripped and accidently poked another kid who started to cry for his mommy. Daddy jumped up and came over immediately. “Say that you are sorry, Tommy,” Daddy instructed. Tommy had already said sorry but he said it again just as the other boy’s mommy scooped him up. “This is why points should not be allowed in our parks,” said the mommy to Daddy. “They are too clumsy to play with our children.” Daddy sighed and reached for Tommy’s hand. “Come along, Tommy, let’s go to the other playground.”

      Tommy and Daddy left Green Park. Tommy looked back at all the climbing equipment he hadn’t even tried yet. He wanted to stay but somehow he knew that Daddy would say no if he asked. He looked up at Daddy but Daddy wasn’t looking at him again.

      They walked slowly along the sidewalk away from the sounds of fun and laughter. Finally Tommy asked Daddy, “Why was that mommy so angry? I said I was sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose. It was an accident.” Tommy tried hard not to cry but a couple tears slipped down his cheeks. Daddy stopped and squatted down to give Tommy a big hug. “Don’t worry about it, Tommy. That little boy’s mommy was just scared that her little boy got hurt. I’d be very worried if you got hurt too. And you were a good boy to say sorry to him.” Tommy still didn’t understand why they had to leave the playground. He promised himself that he would be very careful not to poke somebody the next time.

      Daddy and Tommy walked a few more blocks. Daddy was mostly quiet but he did show Tommy the old place where his granny had lived when Daddy was a little boy. It was smaller than their house but Daddy explained that everyone used to have smaller houses and bigger yards in the old days because kids played in their neighbourhoods, not just at playgrounds. As they passed another small house with a short hedge, they saw two old lady squares sitting on the front porch steps. Tommy waved at them. The one lady waved back but the other one scowled like Mr. Ovoid had. “Look at that poor child’s head,” she said to her friend. “That’s what comes with all this modern thinking.”

      Tommy reached up and touched his head. What was the matter with it? He looked at Daddy but Daddy was giving the old lady an angry look. Tommy thought Daddy was going to say something to her but instead he looked down at Tommy and grabbed Tommy’s hand again. Daddy pulled on Tommy, saying, “Come on, Tommy. It’s only another block to get to the playground.” “But, but Daddy,” Tommy was confused again. “What’s wrong with my head?” “Absolutely nothing!” Daddy shouted, looking back over his shoulder.

      Daddy and Tommy arrived at the second playground. There were kids bouncing balls against a wall, riding skateboards up and down ramps, and a few were kicking around an old tin can. There was a lonely skinny tree in one corner. Tommy couldn’t see any climbing equipment. Over in a corner of the playground there were two swings and a slide. Both swings had two little girls laughing as their daddy pushed them higher into the air each time they swung back down. Daddy walked Tommy towards that corner. “Go play on the slide, Tommy,” Daddy suggested.

      The other daddy stopped pushing the girls and came over to shake hands with Daddy. Tommy scrambled to the top of the ladder. He could hear the two daddies talking from the top of the slide. “We were at Green Park but there was an innocent jab and suddenly we weren’t welcome anymore,” Daddy was saying. “Oh, I hear you, Tyke,” said the other daddy. “Some days you just want to ram a point right into some of them.” “No, I don’t,” said Daddy sadly. “I don’t ever feel that way. I just feel sad for rounds, or points for that matter, who can’t see we all have our strengths and talents. I just want to give them a lecture on Jacob Steiner’s work.” “Tyke, you’re hilarious,” said the other daddy. “Do you really believe that rounds have enough smarts to understand that kind of geometry?” Daddy sighed and looked about for Tommy. He smiled up at his half circle son sitting at the top of the slide. “Yes, I do,” he said. “My wife is one of the smartest shapes I know, and she is a perfect circle.”