Friday, March 14, 2003

I played Monopoly tonight for the first time since high school. The first time with no Free Parking. Which, now that I've been in the real world for over a decade, I've realized is a statistical fallacy. You don't have a one in forty chance of winning the lottery, or even enough money to build a few houses on Baltic Ave., let alone Park Place. That made the game go so much more quickly - two hours, with five people at the start. Games in high school also lasted forever because of personal animosity. People holding out on deals that would be highly beneficial to themselves because of some real or perceived slight, typically related to previous games. People gave their properties up at ridiculous prices to Ken and Jans, but only to balance what otherwise would have been a ridiculously unbalanced game. Which made it more fun, not less, for me, as well. 12:09:10 AM