OH, THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY.

And probably shouldn’t.

For many summers, several of us gathered at a mutual friend’s lovely Michigan home.   One year the trip wasn’t in the cards for us.  We were sorry to miss the fun but reassured ourselves that we’d be back next year.

One afternoon we received a call from the group.   We assumed they were calling to tell us just how much fun they were having and how much they missed us. 

How wrong we were. 

The caller was in tears.  She was nearly unable to speak and when she did her words were unintelligible.   She eventually handed the phone to someone else who was equally incoherent. 

Now, I’m in a panic.  Someone.…one of our good friends….was surely dead!  Or at least near death. I know these people. They don’t cry for nothing!

Happily, I was wrong once again.

It seems they’d been playing croquet.  And all hell had broken loose.

As I understood the situation, each player had fondly and precisely recalled the croquet rules they’d known as a child. Unfortunately, each player’s equally fond and precise memories differed significantly from everyone else’s fond and precise memories. Things escalated quickly as they are wont to do when one’s cherished childhood memories are called into question.  Croquet rules notwithstanding.

I regret to say that I chortled a bit while all this was being revealed. Not surprisingly, the croquet players were in no mood to find humor in the situation. Once they learned that I’d never played the game and knew nothing about its rules and regulations, the call was ended. Quickly.

To this day I’d love to know if things eventually settled down but I always knew better than to ask.  Some things are just better left in the ethers of the past. Croquet rules among them.