1. we go to a bar. over beers, we play checkers. he kicks my ass. i feel foolish, and then all the more so for feeling competitive over checkers.

2. we go home, play scrabble. i kick his ass. the night is redeemed.

the next morning we completed an analysis of each game – i dislike games like checkers or chess because they start with a completely level playing field – there’s no element of chance. so if i lose (which i invariably do), there’s no one/nothing to blame but my own ineptitude. in a game like scrabble, which relies upon skill but also includes the element of chance, the field is wide open. it’s more like life. you need to be good at it (whatever that means to you) to succeed, but there’s also a healthy dose of luck and everything depends on what you do with what you’re dealt. life isn’t fair, why should our games be?