FoxTrot Classics by Bill Amend for March 03, 2010

How much extra if you let him win?

if who let’s who win? Jason beats the computer doesn’t he?

Actually, it’s the dad who beats the computer and all the people who play online.

His dad should have said no. Jason would have trouble finding anyone willing to play him, and would be forced to play for free.

Or maybe beat everyone on Yahoo Chess.

LOL!!! Other fathers are not like Roger Fox.

Amen, Doc, Amen

Like Senator Bunning, Dad doesn’t want to part with a check until he knows where the money is coming from.

Doc - I’m not a chess player, but any game I played with my sons, I did the same as you. They always knew if they won, they had won “fair & square”, and it meant much more.

I agree Doc. In reality, if “everybody wins,” no one does.

Hey Burgundy2 - good point. Artists don’t often think about cross-cultural interpretations of their work. Funny case in point: Wendy’s “Praise the Bacon” ads are plastered all over our city buses, and I can’t help but wonder what residents think as they roll through heavily Jewish and Muslim neighborhoods.

I throw monopoly games. They take too long otherwise.

LuvH8 - I played a lot of monopoly games in my younger years, but have quit enjoying games that are based completely or even somewhat on luck. It was fine while the skill levels were different, but now that my sons are competent at playing the game, it is just a matter of the roll of the dice. I’d much rather play Connect 4, Battleship, or other game that depends on skill, not luck.

Rmom - I like games that are a combination of luck and skill. Then the end result isn’t guaranteed going into the game. (you would not believe the skill it takes to throw a game of Monopoly convincingly) Oh I guess I’ve thrown several games for different reasons, and I like to cheat in a very obvious manner. I guess it’s because I don’t actually play games to win but to have fun. This really annoys people who play to win, more fun for me!

I don’t agree with Doctor Toon and some of you others. Actually, it’s the facts that don’t agree with you. Not everything in life is a zero-sum game. Some things are. Some things aren’t. In some things, everybody truly can win. (Chess isn’t one of those things, but nobody debates that.)

The joke of life gets even funnier. Some people are geared by temperament to look at life in a cooperative way, some in a competitive way. And guess what? Both are right on their own grounds, but seldom does either appreciate the other’s point of view.

In fact the more I learn about how people think, the more I realize that most people don’t even understand their own strengths and weaknesses, let alone anyone else’s. Sad, but true - and curable.

its better to let him win