BY JOELLEN COLLINS
I have found a way to enjoy a game I swore I’d never play. As you may know, I now live in a community of seniors, many enduring pain or disabilities in a place that helps those coping with age-related issues. Healthy and interesting activities are offered daily, from stretching and balance, yoga and walking, to presentations of excellent videos and movies, to small group discussions of silly to complicated subjects. I cannot attend everything, especially as I am often with my small dog and especially if one has “outside” responsibilities, as I do.
Games like bridge, Rummikub and Trivial Pursuit appeal to several abilities as do games like “The New York Times” growing number of intellectual exercises. Every morning my family starts the day with Wordle online, and then, if time allows, we play some other challenges and then text our results. I am OK with letters, but number and placement games like chess are beyond me. I yearn for Scrabble and other word games, and crave the solitary joy of crossword puzzles, though the ones in the “Times” are becoming more difficult than the Sunday efforts I have tried for years.
One game offered to my friends here is bingo. I admit to a childish disdain of the game, associating it with the minds and actions of people who, it was hinted, liked a game relying entirely on luck, without using their intellect and education. I will admit I felt “above” the “waste of time” used up in an hour or so. However, I was basing my understanding of poor care presented in former days when seniors were often quite unhappy, so, as I thought, people were trained to be distracted from the misery by this “meaningless” filling of precious hours most of us want to spend with family and friends. The many exciting things we used to do, like traveling and attending brilliant theater, symposiums, music, and dance, shouldn’t be replaced by this “silly” activity. TV and other media made fun of Bingoers
It was a judgment by hypocrites who found lots of other ways to “waste time.”
That thinking is part of an intellectual snobbery I hoped I didn’t possess. Now, being here, I understand why bingo helps. First, it encourages gentle interaction with many people new to us, as do our book groups, musical and festive events, and delicious food cooked in a kitchen (in my case powered by excellent cooks and a French chef}. I am grateful that we are offered more activities than I could fit into my less-than-usual but still busy life. Today we played bingo with local elementary school students, and I loved it! Being with fresh, sweet faces, “rooting” for them, and simply relaxing was a blessing. Who cares what the game is if players laugh and smile during it?
A zippy friend here, now gone, loved bingo. After winning all the games one afternoon, she mentioned that she was embarrassed. In our mutual teasing manner, I said, “Oh, get used to it. I’m now calling you Baby Bingo.” She smiled and kept the moniker.