Monopoly is not just a game, but a lesson
Danielle Switalski
When I was unemployed, before fortunately getting a job here in Plains, and had nothing to do but play board games and ponder my existence, I realized that Monopoly is not just a game, but it’s full of lessons that someone can use everyday of their lives. Lessons I still utilize in my new home here.
I didn’t realize the full extent of the meanings in the game of Monopoly until I recently rehashed a real doozy of a game that I played this past summer with two of my Milwaukee pals. It was an eight-hour endeavor filled with two orders of takeout, copious amounts of coffee and an hour-long nap break. After this tiresome game I immediately took to Google and found out the longest game, of Monopoly ever played was 1,680 hours long (70 days). I no longer felt bad about wasting an entire summer day without once going outside.
The game was cutthroat and our three friendships stood on the edge of extinction for the better half of the game. One of my friends is particularly fond of cheating and slowly sneaks money from the bank. I have learned over time to never allow her to be banker after this and told her I didn’t trust her sneaky ways.
Life lesson number one: Be careful who you trust your money with and most importantly what you do with it. A couple of bad investments, particularly one in Park Place, cost me the marathon of a Monopoly game that fateful summer night.
Life lesson number two: When in doubt, get to GO and collect $200. Well, no one collects $200 in real life just for simply rolling the right number of dice, but when in doubt do just GO. Get out and do things. You’ll never collect any money without moving forward, even if you risk landing on a three-hotel property costing you your entire fortune and your “get out jail free” card.
Lesson number three: Patience is not an easy feat. As I write this, I am watching a three-year-old and a seven-year-old. After taking out Monopoly after I told them what I was writing about, they tried to play it and kept interrupting my writing. I learned through my long days and nights of hardcore Monopoly playing to just take a deep breath when I’m feeling frustrated, especially when my friend holds onto the dice for far too long. After one good deep breath, I calm down and practice one of the hardest of the virtues: patience.
Life lesson number four: Everything is about endurance. Sure, there were times during the game where I was ready to just quit and tell the others that I’ll just take the loss, but I kept playing. Even though I did not win and my friends and I were at each others’ throats for the better part of the day, we had a great time (and agreed never to play Monopoly without a fourth person to keep the peace).
Although I lost that daylong Monopoly game, I learned a lot and that is all that matters.
If you have life lessons you’d like to share, please e-mail Reporter@vp-mi.com.