photo by @ryanquintal
Here in the Midwest, people still get together and visit on the porch, make music, play euchre, and have happy hour together. And they play chicken foot dominos. There are quite a few versions of chicken foot but it’s an easy game to play. Everyone makes mistakes, laughter can be uproarious and prolonged, the players try to catch each other out, and the game can last for hours. The main thing to remember is, if someone plays a double domino, you can’t play anywhere else on the board until you form a three tile “chicken foot.”
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Our friend Stevie had a new girlfriend, Sheri. Sheri was sweet but must have been in the shower when the brains were passed out. Try as she might, she couldn’t absorb the concept of the chicken foot game. On every play with a double where someone had declared “chicken foot!” Sheri would try to play on another number.
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Every time she asked, “Can I play this here?” and every time the entire table said, “No.” Then someone would remind her that she had to play a domino with the same number of dots on one side as there were on the double domino before we could go on. She’d nod very seriously and say, “Oh, ok.” We played for 4 hours.
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Honestly, she never got it. When there was a chicken foot and it was her turn, players started saying, “Now you have to play a 5 (or whatever) on this tile to make a chicken foot.” And Sheri, bless her little heart would try to play a 7 and ask, “Can I play this here?” “No.” Every. Time. Did I mention we played for 4 hours?
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At one point Stevie tried to give her an out if she wanted to stop playing. He did it skillfully, but she cheerfully declined. It made me think about who she was and how she saw herself.
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Sheri wasn’t worried about messing up. She was surrounded by all these nice new friends who were more than happy to help her play. I think she had a good time. The rest of us were worn down. I think there might be a lesson in here for us all.
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