The American Dream. No where else is that concept better realized then in the game of Monopoly. Growing
up I always thought Monopoly to be "a pretty cool board game", but I never really played that much. Of course, at that
age anything lasting more than half an hour was boring, especially a board game consisting of no violence and no batteries.
Half way through High School, my cousin Bud and I started
playing on the weekends. It was then that I became hooked, and our games reflected that......marathons. It
was nothing to start playing on Friday night and finish the next morning in a stalemate.
I remember having to make money out of memo pads to compensate for the bank running out. Sweet Tea ran freely,
Debbie Cakes were endangered species, and it was nothing to give your competitor a small gift when you hit
Free Parking.
The game is played differently now. Sweet tea has given way to beer, Debbie Cakes to Doritos, and you have a better
chance of seeing Jimmy Hoffa then a gift from anyone. Distance prohibits Bud and I from playing, and
my latest batch of players are......well, let's just say that a jackal feeding is more civil. Teams are
non-existent. I also learned that you never play with a date that's a sore loser. Of course, the bad thing for me is, I lose.....
a lot. You would think that after all of these years that I would have a system or game plan. Nope. Nada. Nothing.
