6.07.2009

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200

For as long as I can remember, I have hated the game of Monopoly. When I was a kid, my brothers and I would occasionally play. These games would start out happily enough. Inevitably, however, they would start to turn, and would usually end with me throwing something at someone and/or crying.


When I married Dave, I didn't realize that I was marrying into not just one Monopoly game, but two. We have both the Star Wars Classic Trilogy Edition and Star Wars Episode I Edition. Dave has a vague recollection of us playing once in our first year of marriage, but apparently I have repressed that memory. All other Monopoly invitations have been soundly rejected.

About a month ago, in our boredom, Dave once again suggested that we play Monopoly, more as a joke than anything. Since it was either Monopoly or watching an NBA playoff game, I agreed to play, much to his surprise. Now I am hooked! We have played a round or two almost every night since then. The Classic Trilogy Edition smells like boys (since that is what Dave and his friends frequently played as teenagers), so we always play the Episode I Edition.

I still hate Monopoly when I am losing. I guess my problem with the game (at least when only two people are playing) is that if you're not fortunate enough to get a full color group (and the other player doesn't need to trade), you are pretty much hosed. A lot of it is based on luck, and it is frustrating to be slowly whittled away, handing over all of your cash and properties one roll at a time.

I have come to grips with my anger issues, though. I don't freak out at Dave when he wins. Now when things start to turn, I merely say, "Can we start over?" Sometimes (if it's going badly enough) we do. We've come to realize that the game is much more fun for the both of us if we're fairly evenly matched and get locked into an epic battle. Of course, it's most fun when I'm the one that dominates.

(The real fight comes in deciding who gets to be Jar Jar.)

3 comments:

Dave said...

Classic Trilogy Monopoly has definitely been well used. The grimy, (Zeponie) pizza-stained bills and decade-old B.O. captured within are proof of that.

Hali said...

I use to play monopoly with my brothers all the time when we were kids. Every night we would each bag up our money and pieces into seperate bags so we could continue the next night without missing a beat. Who won most? no idea, but we would have fun trying.

robmba said...

When Ed gets older, you might try out Monopoly Junior with him. Ashlee usually wins when we play it. Lando always has to be on someone else's team, since he loses interest about 5 minutes into the game and runs off to do something else.