Monopoly
Playing by the rules
Sam was a mastermind. He was only 7, but he knew how to win.
“Boardwalk,” he said. “That’s the key.”
Okay. I played my normal game, picking up properties as I landed on them. He was the banker, so he carefully counted out the money I gave him for each deed.
We started slowly. We bought a few odds and ends, but neither of us were rolling well. Pretty soon he announced a banker’s tax of $20 on each transaction. “Twenty bucks?” “Yup.”
I got all three of the red streets, so I started to build some houses. One more trip around the board, and it was time to buy another house. “Bank’s closed,” he said.
“What? You can’t do that.”
“Sure I can. It’s my game.”
I tried to explain how it works. The rules. Fairness. “It’s my game,” he said.
Okay. I’m an adult. I can humor him. He’s only 7.
We played some more. He got all the green streets, and the bank was suddenly open again.
“I think we should check with your Mom.”
“Go ahead,” he said, with more confidence than I anticipated.
When his Mom came in the room, we talked. I asked, “Don’t you think we should be following the rules?” He grinned as she rubbed his hair.
“Oh, we don’t have to be sticklers. He’s just learning.”
He’s learning, all right.
The bank opened and closed. He made a fortune on Pacific Ave., and it seemed like I landed there every other turn. He bought up all the houses, so there was a building shortage. Even when the bank was open, I couldn’t buy houses.
“I’ll sell you some houses,” he said. Wait. Could you do that? This was new to me. “$4000 each,” he said.
“No way!”
But that was his price. I didn’t bite.
The game was going long, and he was getting impatient. I could wait him out.
“Final bell,” he said.
“What’s that?”
“We go around until one of us lands on Boardwalk. Then we count our money. The most money wins.”
I had never heard of this, but whatever. I was getting tired of this game.
It turns out I was the one who landed on Boardwalk, so we started our count. As I was tallying up my bills, he pulled some 500s out from under the board. “I win,” he said.
I never had a chance.
And that’s how we ended up with development projects in Venezuela, Gaza, Iran, Greenland, and parts of Africa.
He said, “Another game?”
