Larry Levy:  The Game Where Everybody Wins

Let me take a brief respite from the world of board and card games to talk about a much bigger contest we each play every day:  the game of life (and I’m not talking about the one heartily endorsed by Art Linkletter).  Sometimes we achieve little victories as part of our day to day living, but don’t stop to realize what’s happening.

You see, Dale isn’t the only person to be smacked by Old Man Winter (although I bet he’s got some impressive snowfall totals out where he is).  Here in the DC area, we were hit by a nasty ice storm on Tuesday night.  The accumulation wasn’t much, but the ice kept things from melting (as well as making walking to your car a hazardous exercise).  They let us come in late for work, but it wasn’t bad enough to shut things down, so since I don’t have the luxury of being able to work at home, I sallied forth to my place of business.

Naturally, I managed to get my car stuck in snow not once, but twice.  Yes, the old Thunderbolt Greaseslapper isn’t what she used to be, and that wasn’t much to begin with.  I’ll spare you the embarrassing details of how I managed to do this two times within a seven hour period, because what was significant to me was how I was extricated.

In both cases, perfect strangers took the time and effort to rescue me.  The first time I was stranded in the right hand turn lane leading into my office.  My car was stuck pretty good and I was shifting from forward to reverse to try to rock it out.  Suddenly, a face appeared at my window.  A fellow had stopped his car in the turn lane in the opposite direction (it’s a divided highway) and rushed over to lend assistance.  His English wasn’t that good, but we were able to communicate well enough for the task at hand.  A few mighty pushes and I was free.  All I could do was wave gratefully as I drove away.

The second time was in the parking lot of a food store on my way home from work.  This time, the car wasn’t even moving when I shifted back and forth.  I was trying to kick snow out from under the tires when a man parked his 4x4 nearby.  I asked if he could lend assistance and he readily agreed.  He said he’d already pulled out four or five cars that day.  This time, he had to tie a strap to my car and use his car to yank it out.  One heartfelt “Thank youâ€? and a firm handshake later and he too went on with his business.

I know sometimes it feels as if the world’s become more and more of an impersonal place and that people wrap their cocoons ever more tightly around themselves with each passing year.  In fact, one of the attractions of boardgaming is that you can actually interact with real live people, as opposed to some soulless machine.  It’s easy to imagine that no one cares about anyone outside of their personal circle these days.  So it’s nice to get an occasional reminder that people really are decent and will often rise to the occasion if given half a chance.  Just a friendly thought that hopefully will make you feel warm inside on a chilly winter’s day.  Next week, back to gaming.

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