Me versus Swings and Roundabouts

Me v Clichés 2 - "What you gain on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts" (or vice versa)

I get the metaphorical side of this saying. It's like when you're driving to work and you sail past The Moonrakers but there are big queues at the Magic Roundabout nullifying any previous advantage.

It's the literal part of this I'm not sure about so I thought I'd try it for myself. Living in a fairly new estate on the outskirts of town I have plenty of playgrounds to choose from within about 15 minutes walk. I just needed to wait until after dark so nobody was around to make judgements on a man hanging round play areas on his own and then using those facilities.

Some swings

I started with the swings. When I was small I was never very good at making my own momentum. Some of my friends were really good at that (was it something to do with arm strength?) but I always needed a push, usually from my dad. Now though I'm tall enough to back the swing up quite a way even if I am a bit big for the seat. I walked backwards as far as I could and then lifted my legs and started with the forward motion.

After a few backwards and forwards moves I came to rest, not entirely sure that I gained anything. I headed for the roundabout, grabbed hold of a hand-rail, started running until it was up to speed and then jumped on. I must have gone round for about a minute and a half before coming to a standstill. I don't think I lost anything apart from my dignity.

An old-fashioned roundabout

In the spirit of science I thought I'd repeat the experiment backwards. Roundabout first this time and again there was no huge sense of gain unless you count dizziness. When the world stopped spinning I half-heartedly moved to the swings knowing deep down that there was little to be lost from another go on that piece of equipment.

I was right. I went home.

Conclusion: Confusion.

Next time - I won't be putting all my eggs in one basket.