Why Play?

McDonald’s is once again playing the “Monopoly” game. Why do I like playing this game? I dutifully collect all my little colorful stickers and solemnly stick them onto the Monopoly game page hanging on the front of my fridge. I always get everything except the last one I need … you know, I’ve got Atlantic Avenue and Ventnor but Marvin Gardens is only available in Bumfuck, Egypt and I’m likely never gonna’ see it. I know this when I start the game so why do I even play? As I was sticking little bits of paper onto my Monopoly page last night I got to thinking, who won the last game? Then I realized I’ve never once heard who wins those games. McDonald’s spends a boat load of their advertising budget printing and advertising these games. Wouldn’t you think they’d want to make a mega marketing hype about the winners? Curious isn’t it? Did anyone win? Does anyone ever win? Anything?

This got me thinking about all the other “winners” I’ve never seen. Who won the free week of groceries from the local supermarket drawing or the free tank of gas from the corner gas station? Did anyone? I’ll never know. That made me think about all those times I’ve “won” something from the internet. You know, click here to claim your prize … just sign up for $1,000 of stuff you don’t need and you can have this $25 camera phone for free (plus $35 in shipping and handling charges). That got me to thinking maybe no one ever really wins anything. The super cynical side of me started declaring it to all just be marketing hype … and then I remembered that once I won. I really, really won.

When I was a little girl my Mom used to grocery shop at Vic’s market. It was a small corner grocery that had a heavy swinging door with a bell on it. It was always dark and cool inside and smelled of freshly opened cardboard boxes and cold cuts. They had a Coca-Cola machine that sold Coke in tiny glass bottles but your timing had to be quick and damn near perfect – snatch the bottle too soon and it would stick in the dull metal jaws of the mechanism and pinch your fingers in the process – snatch it too late and just miss out – most of the time it cheated you out of your money. A lot more reliable, the store also had a penny gumball machine chock full of inviting little fruit-colored orbs, all in solid colors. Amongst the solid colors was a single bright yellow gumball bearing two red stripes around it and if you got that gumball you could turn it in for a free candy bar. The prize gumball was always teasingly positioned where you could see it either on top of the pile or right next to the glass. One hot and sticky summer afternoon in 1965 I crossed my fingers and pushed my penny in the machine’s slot for the umpteenth time, turning the handle, the swinging lid giving a little squeak as it opened …I felt like the luckiest kid in the world when that bright yellow striped gumball emerged quietly from under the lid and rolled gently into my palm. I was ecstatic. I looked around to see if anyone else saw me win but no one had. So proudly holding my newly won gumball so that everyone could plainly see it I stepped up to the cashier to claim my free candy bar and asked for a Big Hunk – but when the cashier asked me for the gumball I just stood there and blinked at her. I couldn’t give it up. I stuffed the little gumball into the pocket of my cotton shorts and took it home where I put it in my ballerina music box. There it sat for years fading and gathering lint. Evidence that I’d won. Really, really won.

Maybe that’s why I still play …