Double Dutch

Have you ever watched young girls playing double dutch? It's become an art form.

The white girls are always so square. They make me think of Peter Rabbit jumping rope, going hippety-hop, hippety-hop, while they chant: "Di-DAH, di-DAH, di-DAH, di-DAH; di-DAH, di-DAH, di-DAH, di-DAH", until one of them inevitably trips on the rope.

Then the black troupe from downtown comes on, the spinners wielding two or three ropes that fly in different directions, with a team of jumpers in the middle going: "Do-bop a-did-n-did-n, did-dle-y-op-a dip-a-did-n, be-DOP DOP DOP a-did-n did-dle-op-a DEE-bop BOP", as they dance, tumble, backflip and split, landing and springing off all fours, bouncing and percolating like Rube Goldbergs. It's a thing of beauty.