Please note that I am definitely not talking about hashish or any other kind of drug. I am talking about the Hash House Harriers which is a global group of "drinkers with a running problem." The problem that a lot of Hashes face around the world, including in our own is the age of our group's population. I don't know the average age of our participants but it is somewhere in the neighborhood of 138. Ok, around 60 is probably a better average.
But as far as the adult population of our particular Hash kennel is concerned at 42 years old, my initial hash name was "Young and Rich" because I was normally the youngest adult human in attendance.
This could be for a wide variety of reasons but a lot of it has to do with the fact that younger people tend to have jobs and therefore are not able to go to an event that starts at 4pm when they likely work until 5 or something. However, we do perform one run a week on Saturdays, and this is the norm around the world.
One thing that we do enjoy seeing is that some of our members bring their children along, and the kids seem to enjoy participating in the revelry as much as the adults do.
Kids as a rule are not allowed to participate in these events without their parent's presence for obvious legal reasons but its also because we are a bunch of foul mouthed cretins who are not going to attempt to "tone it down" for the kiddos.
That doesn't mean that the kids don't have fun though and I think a lot of them actually really enjoy showing off a bit because the teenage ones, or the ones that are near teenage years, enjoy the fact that generally speaking they are a lot faster than we are.
It's probably really good for the children as well because in today's digital age, kids tend to sit around and play video games and get very little outdoor time. This is particularly true in Thailand where the streets are a dangerous place since there is very little in the way of any sort of traffic enforcement and people kind of just do whatever they want with their vehicles with impunity.
I do want to once again reiterate that under no circumstances do we give the children alcohol, nor do we encourage them to be interested in it. It is very well established that this is an adult activity that they are allowed to attend. We don't have many "rules" in the Hash, but giving booze to minors is a line that even we would never cross.
They also seem to really enjoy the process at the end of the run that we call "the circle" where we make fun of one another and force people to sit on the ice so they can be berated or praised for their behavior (or misbehavior) on trail. Unlike with the adults, they can decline to be "iced" and no one is going to force them to do so. We're not animals and just like most parents around the world, we love our kids.
The one caveat if you are considering bringing your kids to these events is that the will be subjected to foul language and sexual references that while they are all meant in jest, could be something that you would rather have your kids be unaware of. I think in today's day and age that they are subjected to so much of that just by having access to YouTube that we are rather tame in comparison.
So there you have it: Kids can Hash too and hopefully they enjoy it enough that they will carry on the tradition into adulthood so that the Hash can continue to be the wonderful experience that it is worldwide today.
As always, I encourage you to get involved with us if you are in Thailand by checking out our official website or to find a Hash kennel in your local area. It will change your life for the better - I guarantee it.
