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People who have played board games with me know that I am the absolute
biggest cheater. I can't help it. I just don't see the fun in playing
by the rules when the game itself is so frivolous. Everything else in
life requires so much honesty and integrity - games by Parker Brothers,
on the other hand, don't. If I'm not cheating, I'm being a sore winner
(this includes trash talking, pointing and laughing, mockery, and
patronizing). If I'm not winning, then I'm an even bigger sore loser,
which involves a range of things such as overturning the game board,
hiding the winning pawns, accusing the winners of cheating, and of
course... cheating.
I can't blame myself for this behavior, however, because I recently discovered that my cheating-at-pointless-board-games
trait is genetic. I was playing Sorry! with my 8-year-old sister the
other day, and when it was my turn to draw a card, I overturned a card
that I had not recognized. Instead of a Disney character instructing
me to move 2, 3, or 4 spaces, I saw that I had chosen a homemade
card... written in green highlighter, demanding me to move either 64 or
15 spaces. I peered up at Asma, upon whose face slowly grew a sly,
guilty smile.
"Asma, what is this?" I asked accusingly.
"Oh, that's a special
card. If I get that card, I get to move 64 spaces, and if you get that
card, you have to go 15 spaces... backwards."
"What the... Why do you get to move 64 spaces?!"
"Um, because that's how many spots there are on whole board... so I would win, and you would lose!"
Yes,
she actually counted the number of spaces all the way around the board,
devised a new rule that would ensure her victory, and snuck these
fraudulent cards into the actual game. Now don't get me wrong, I'm all
for using children's games as a way to teach kids honesty and fair
play... but I have to say, I was quite impressed at Asma's strategic
cheating. While I hastily swipe Monopoly money and accidentally knock
over game pieces, Asma actually demonstrated a thoughtful, cunning
maturity in her trickery. Maybe that's not a good thing, but she
definitely made me proud.
On a separate, yummier note, we went blueberry picking in Michigan this weekend and picked 15 pounds of blueberries! Needless to say, I've been baking quite a bit...
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| | Posted 8/11/2008 11:37 PM - 90 Views - 4 eProps - 2 comments
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