I've never been a sore loser ... except for playing 'Memory'
I've never been a sore loser ... except for playing 'Memory'
The beauty salon visit that started a rivalry with me and my grandfather
I would never classify myself as competitive. There have been times where I won elections (whether it was to be in leadership with Toastmasters, my condo board or as an Election Judge), and I am a natural leader. But I don’t get angry when I lose. I usually try to evaluate what went wrong so I can do better the next time. I am definitely in competition with myself at all times, trying to one-up what I did the year before to make myself a better person.
However, I do tend to talk a lot of smack while playing board games. That’s the one time where you’ll get me unapologetically being obnoxious, primarily because I have family members who talk even more smack. (My mother sent me a “Haters Gonna Hate” Bitmoji on Words With Friends after she beat me.) Pente and Motownopoly are our go-to games to talk hella shit. And although some family members used to enjoy playing my favorite childhood game “Memory,” they quickly figured out there was no point in playing with me. There was a 99% chance I was going to win.
The only two people who dared to try to beat me in the game were my brother’s friend and my grandfather, and the latter would complain that I was “cheating” because I knew which objects matched the card color. (For example, the light bulb was always a red card. So I knew it was only a matter of flips before I found it.) Mind you, this is the same guy who taught me to play Blackjack, Tonk, Poker, War, Spades and Rummy. It was a roll of the dice who won at card games, although War could last forever.
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I’d go to the beauty salon every two weeks (on Saturdays) with my paternal grandmother and come back to finish a game of War from the prior visit, and we’d keep it going. Still, he had a bone to pick with me “cheating” at Memory. And I’d sit on the floor with a Cheshire grin on my face, knowing there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t exactly erase my memory while we played “Memory.” And then came that beauty salon visit that family members are still laughing about.