Monopoly

"We have no food, we have no jobs, our PETS' HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!!!!"

-Dumb and Dumber

Lately, that line from Dumb and Dumber is just about the only way I can really describe how I've felt about how my life is going. I know it sounds stupid and WAY overdramatic, but seriously, I just feel like everything that could have gone wrong, has gone wrong. Kind of ridiculously so, like Dumb and Dumber, just not funny. Ha. Or maybe it's really funny from the outside looking in, but I just can't see it that way.

The best analogy I can actually come up with is playing a game of Monopoly. I feel like Larry and I started this game 7 or 8 years ago when we first got together, and we still haven't made it round the board once yet. We've been rolling the dice, and we just keep getting 1's instead of 5's or 6's. We've been playing by the rules, we've been saving our pink dollars for investing in the things that are important, and we've been making smart decisions. Instead of breaking the bank and immediately putting hotels on our properties, we've waited and put just one little house. In and of itself, that's a great thing to be able to say right there. We've done it right, we've never compromised, we've taken the right steps, and we've played by the rules. I think its awesome that we can say that, because not many people can! I would be thrilled,  except we're not the only players.

We've been joined by heaps of other players along the way, some have kept playing with us, and others have gotten bored and quit halfway through. We've got players we've been playing with for years and years, and others who've just recently joined in. There are players who, like us, have been playing by the rules, who've been making smart decisions and encouraging us along the way as we enjoy the game together. And there are players who, unlike us, don't have any interest in playing by the rules. They move their pieces backwards around the board, they pick up Chance Cards whenever they feel like it, and they blow all their money putting up 5 hotels on every property they manage to get their hands on. And while we're stuck rolling 1's and getting slammed by every Chance Card we manage to pick up, they're getting 5's and 6's, and when they pick up Chance Cards they always get "Get Out of Jail Free" or "Free Parking".

What does it all mean? How does it work out that way, that by playing fair, playing by the rules and making wise decisions we end up behind? Does it actually mean we're losing the game? Because right now it certainly feels that way. How does it work out that by playing dirty, by making all the wrong decisions, being irresponsible and wasteful, the other players are getting ahead?

I know there's a lot of game left to play. I know that it's certainly possible that it's all going to change with the next roll of the dice. Our lucky Chance Card could be right around the corner. We could pick it up today, for all I know. And what's to say that the other players aren't going to end up losing?

It's certainly not about winning or losing I know, it's about playing the game and enjoying it. It's about doing it the right way and having fun with the people you're playing with. But what if it's just not fun anymore? Well, it would appear that the solution is to quit playing with those players who are making your game miserable. But what if you're TIED to those players PERMANENTLY? If you can't get away from them? What if you'll always be playing the game with them, and you'll always be stuck with their choices and bad decisions? What's to be done?

Quitting the game certainly isn't an option. I just wonder how long we can actually continue playing the game with just the knowledge that we're in the right to sustain us.