As they walked through the doors of

the ten-day-old toy store, Lewis pulled

his motherʼs weary arm trying to make

her go faster. She held tightly to his

small had because she knew how full

the store would be of distracted shop-

pers. Lewis had been begging her for

a week to go to the store. The latest

craze for first graders was yo-yos and

Lewis could not wait to get his own.

After only a few minutes they

found an aisle full of yo-yos.

Deciding which yo-yo would

not be difficult since people

buy the yo-yo that best reflects

their personality. People choose

a yo-yo without realizing that it mir-

rors their personality. A person has a

choice among four different groups--

Joes, Leonardos, Bartholomews, and

Carltons--and each group is different

in the way they look and the personʼs

personality they reflect.

ing down a crowded New York City

sidewalk, these people would blur to-

gether. Joe owners are plain, ordinary

people.

Leonardos are the next yo-yos on

the shelf. Leonardos are often made

of wood, but some are plastic. They

can come tie-dyed, iridescent, neon,

and a variety of other things, m aking

their color range is a lot broader. The

wooden ones usually have a picture

carved or painted on them. Many

times they can be found in souvenir

shops. For instance, at the Mount

Rushmore souvenir shop, one may find

a yo-yo with a picture of Mount Rush-

more on the sides. These yo-yos tend

to be a bit pricier, but they show more

about a personʼs character. Those

who will put in a few more cents for

a more decorative yo-yo are the cre-

ative people. They express themselves

in unique ways. Leonardo owners can

also be referred to as artists. Often

time they stand out in a crowd and are

often thought to be different. They are

the green-eyed, the blue-haired, the tat-

tooed, and the pierced. Unfortunately,

Leonardo owners are not always ac-

cepted in todayʼs society. These arethe

people who are often seen skipping

People choose a yo-yo with-out realizing that it mirrors

their personality.

The first choice a person has in buying

a yo-yo is Joes. These yo-yos are made

of plastic, are simple, and they are the

most common. Found only in solid col-

ors, Joes are limited to the eight basic

colors--red, orange, yellow, green, blue,

purple, black, and white. Although

the colors may vary,

these yo-yos are

the same in ev-

ery other way.

The most not-

ed example

is the string.

All Joes have

white strings. These yo-yos are also the

cheapest on the market.

If a person decides to purchase a Joe,

their character traits will fit with all other

Joe buyers. These are the people who

are considered normal. They tend to

be called just an “average Joe.” These

particular yo-yo owners will be shallow

when it comes to their personality and

are not easily distinguished from one

another. Some have brown

hair and brown eyes,

or maybe they have

brown hair and

blue eyes. For the

most part though,

these people do

not have any-

thing that makes

them stand out in a

crowd. While walk

24 Yo-yo Living

down the street or spinning in circles as

they walk. They see the world through

different eyes and enjoy life as it is, no

mater how ridiculed they are. Leon-

ardo owners make up the most unique

group of people.

The third group of yo-yos is the Bar-

tholomews. These yo-yos will look like

Joes, but their strings tell a different

story. After releasing a Bartholomew

downwards, they will automatically re-

turn to the hand that released it. Only

half the physical work is required when

performing with one of these toys. The

people who will be seen with a

Bartholomew in hand are the

lazy and the young. A lazy

person will enjoy this form of

entertainment because they can

play while sitting and their effort

is cut in half. The young simply

do not have the coordination or

experience to handle a differ-

ent model. These people also

like things done for them, or at

least made simple. If that is not

enough, they like things doneas

quickly as possible. Time is on

their mind. They will always walk

fast or jog to their destination.

They are often found thinking,

“I must be here by this time, so I

can be there by that time.” Their

minds are walking schedules full

of exact times and reasoning.

The last choice for a yo-yo shopper is

the Carltons. These yo-yos are often

confused with Bartholomews because

they are so closely related. Carl-

tons, however, are fancier than Bar-

tholomews. They have lights, music,

or both that play while a person sends

the yo-yo down and watches it come

back to their hand. Like the yo-yo in

their hand, a person may have to do

a double take to realize what kind of

person they are looking at. People

who might be seen picking up one of

these yo-yos are those who are rich,

stuck-up, computer nerds, and those

who need everything perfect. The rich

and stuck-up simply want something to

rub in everyone elseʼs face. They need

one of these yo-yos to show off to the

neighbors. Computer nerds, however,

want a Bartholomew because one.

they like to have the latest in technol-

ogy. Whether computer nerd or rich

snob, each would turn towards a Bar-

tholomew as their ideal yo-yo.

A personʼs yo-yo choice fi ts into one

of four categories--Joes, Leonardos,

Bartholomews, or Carltons--and each

group has specifi c character-

istics, which relate to

the owners personali-

ty traits. Yo-yos come

in a variety of choices.

Many people think it is

a diffi cult decision, but buying a yo-

yo is not as tricky as it seems because

people automatically pick out the yo-

yo that best fi ts their personality.

Now, Lewis pressed his mother for al-

most half an hour trying to get her to

buy a spectacular multi-colored yo-yo,

but she insisted that he should get an

automatic She felt he was too unco-

ordinated and would be able to ad-

vance to a more diffi cult

model, and Lewis fi nally

gave up. Lewis eventual-

ly became coordinated

enough to buy a wood-

en yo-yo with a roaring

lion carved in the sides.

He also grew up to be

an amazing painter; he

enjoyed color on him-

self too, in the forms of

Spring 2006 25