To Be or Not to Be a Games Family
The Week in Selfies: 3/1/21 - 3/7/21
Is this tweet my therapist?
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My Mom has always wanted us to be a games family.
There are a couple of fundamental problems with this.
Problem One: As a kid, I definitely cheated. I maintained for years, for years, that I did not, in fact, cheat but it was obvious. Don’t worry, I have acknowledged this fact. That is why I have put it as Problem One. And I have also immortalized it in my play Invincible Ones:
PRESTON
Nope. You don’t get to be banker. No way.ZOE
Why?PRESTON
You cheat.ZOE
I don’t cheat.PRESTON
Yes you do.
You did when we were kids.ZOE
We’re not kids anymore dude.PRESTON
No fucking way. Gimme the money.
Problem B: We haven’t, historically, been much of a games family.
The thing is, we’ve tried so many times for so many years. Every year, Santa would bring the family a game and we would play it shortly after the holidays. Almost always, the games ended in tears. Everyone’s competitive side would come out and a couple of us would move from funny snarky to mean snarky. I’m not certain anyone destroyed a game board at any point but I’m also not certain no one didn’t. (That’s a sentence, right?)
Physical games actually ended up being the best for us, which is infinitely funny to me but maybe it was the best for us because it’s a lot harder to fight when you are constantly out of breath.
As the pandemic stretched on and my Mom was hearing from friends that their families were doing the online games thing, she also started to push the games thing again. There was this notion that the families who play games together are close. Because we weren’t doing that, I think it made the distance we were already experiencing feel much wider for some of the family. We went so far as to buy Jackbox Games but we never played it.
Part of that is probably because I, myself, am not the hugest games person. I’ve never gotten into any role playing games or anything with complicated rules or stories. Not that I think I wouldn’t like them but I just haven’t ever done it. I also don’t have a ton of competitive spirit when it comes to game-playing which might make me a bit too laid back for certain games. And, honestly, it’s probably because I don’t like to end up in situations where I think I’ll look dumb. In general, in my life, I don’t mind failure (I’ve had so much of it) or being wrong (also has happened a lot) but any time I think my intelligence is being/going to be questioned, I pretty much take a pass. The root of that is probably a conversation for therapy but, for now, I’ll say what I said to my therapist last week when she asked me why something was: “I don’t know, probably childhood stuff.”
I do, however, love some game situations. I love an office-wide bingo with gif shit-talking. I do love things like Cards Against Humanity. And I do, despite what an earlier paragraph might indicate, love Jackbox Games.
There were a few times during the pandemic when I had the distinct pleasure of doing some Jackbox games with friends. Those were very fun times, a great way to lighten the overall mood and, my mood specifically. When laughs were incredibly hard to come by, those times really paid the deficit.
Moral of the story: I might not generally be much of a games person, but given the opportunity to smile from ear to ear, bring some snark, and laugh from deep in my soul, I’ll absolutely play a few games.
A little epilogue: I will say, my family is better at games now that my brother and I are adults. And, as the family expands, games are becoming easy ways to hang out and bond. The best game for us tends to be Cards Against Humanity and that is mostly because we get to introduce my Dad to all sorts of things he doesn’t want to know. (Notably things like “glory holes” and “pegging.”) He gets so so awkward and we cry because we laugh so hard.
Monday, March 1, 2021
This is how you eat right?
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Unhappy but cozy, I guess.
Wednesday, March 3, 2021
This is a great coat I have only worn…a few times.
Thursday, March 4, 2021
This is my “Party in the USA” face.
Friday, March 5, 2021
I do not remember the theme for Happy Hour but I did have fun with it.
Saturday, March 6, 2021
I am certain everyone on this games zoom will love that I took this picture.
Sunday, March 7, 2021
I don’t know either.
This week, paying subscribers entered the monthly haiku salon and were treated to a set of haikus about the 90s. If that sounds intriguing to you, consider becoming a paid subscriber.
