entry #3
May 6, 1997
During my final week of service at the Waikiki Health Center instead of the pretty monotonous task of making copies of the newsletter, stuffing envelopes, and sitting in on hotline calls, I spent most of my time perfecting The Dick Game. I experienced a minor technical difficulty when I pinned the penis on the board and then realized that every time someone spun it, the dick always pointed down. I immediately set out to resolve the problem. It took me about four hours. I wasn't working alone, either. I asked about six different people for help, including my neighbor via the telephone. I tried putting bubble gum on the back. No luck. I tried putting a paper clip at different spots to balance the dick, but to no avail. At this point I suggested to Kim maybe numbering the questions and having the girls roll the dice, but Kim was quite adamant about having the dick spinner. She was almost consumed by the idea. Finally, after another phone call to my neighbor, I got it to work by taping a nickel underneath one side of the dick. I even made the dick anatomically correct by adding testicles (the left nut being larger than the right) and pubic hair (made out of construction paper, of course).
I was so excited to go out on the track that night. I got there at about 10:00, and for some reason, there were about five police officers standing near our usual meeting place. Within minutes of having set up The Dick Game, a huge crowd had gathered around us. The prostitutes were eager to play, as were some of the tourists. Even a few of Honolulu's Finest gave it a try. I was a little surprised to find that most of the ladies knew the answers to the STD questions. At the risk of sounding condescending, I was very proud of them. They are much more informed than I thought. I was also proud of myself for having created such a cool game board, which everyone seemed to enjoy.
We encountered many seemingly homophobic men who probably would've played the game if the spinner were shaped like a breast or anything besides a penis. All night long, I heard comments like, "that's a woman's game" and "I'm not spinning that thing. " A few men were brave enough to give the dick a spin, and even though they answered the questions incorrectly, we gave them condoms just for trying. In response to the question 'How is chlamydia spread?' a man visiting from Ireland replied, "On toast." This was my favorite response of the night. Also among the non-prostitute contestants were a couple of parking valets from a nearby hotel, and of course, a bunch of rowdy drunk guys. They answered the questions correctly, but they didn't want any condoms because they were married and had children so they didn't have to worry about catching anything. Yeah, right. Whatever. I left that one alone. Then they wanted to get into a heated discussion about legalizing prostitution. This might have been interesting if these guys weren't yelling and they didn't smell like a brewery. Finally, we got rid of them and decided to move on to a different corner.
All in all, The Dick Game was a huge success. At the end of the night our prize bag was empty, and we had involved probably close to 100 contestants. Everyone had a good time, and more importantly, they learned something about STD. I was proud to have played a minor role in public health education. My volunteer experience at the Waikiki Health Center was both educational and rewarding. I really enjoyed going out on the track and meeting the ladies, and I plan to go out a few more times over the summer before I leave for the mainland.