Words with Friends or Are They Really Your Friends??

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Sunday started out like any other weekend day.  I was in my bedroom when my daughter came in and she and the dogs piled into bed with me.  I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was playing a game called Words with Friends on her Ipad2.  Never having played this game before, I watched her play for a bit and told her to let me play.  Big mistake. I hate to admit this, but I am actually a Scrabble virgin.  I have never played the game in my life, yet I have seen it played enough times to know that it can bring out the worst in people and is remarkably like Words with Friends.  

When I gave her the good news that she had a new opponent named M-O-M, she said she really didn’t want to play with me because I always get too carried away. One time, when she was little and we were playing Candy Land, I made the mistake of saying, “Looks like you are lost in the woods, Sucker!” only to be told the correct name was the Lollipop Woods.  I tried telling her it was an innocent slip of the tongue, but the kid has never recovered.  Why can’t she remember the years I spent saying, “Go Fish,” when what I really wanted to say was,  “Please shoot me.”

After a little convincing, we started the game and everything was going pretty well until she stole not once, but twice, the spaces where I intended to play a great word.  The first time I let it go, but the second time Words with Friends quickly turned into Bad Words with Fiends.  There was a little shouting, a few taunts, two attempts to discredit her word, and one death threat, which caused her to run to my husband and inform him that she did not want to continue the game with a person who kept repeating, “How many points do I get if I M-A-I-M you?”  What my daughter didn’t seem to understand was that she was complaining to my husband while he was watching Sunday Morning and she really should know by now that one of us could drop on the floor convulsing directly in front of him and his only course of action would be to turn the TV volume up.  Luckily, I was able to explain to her that she had completely misunderstood my motives and I was only sounding out different words like H-A-R-M, H-A-C-K, C-U-T, and C-R-U-S-H, because I was trying to see if I had the right letters for my next move. All she said was she hoped she drew an S, because she already had an A and one S, and one more S would help her form the perfect word, too.

 

The pace of Words with Friends can be a little unnerving.  I am playing my nephew right now and at the rate he has been responding, we will know the winner of this match in two years.  I have waited 24 hours for him to play the word, “leg,” which, quite frankly, I did not feel was worth the delay and seemed to me to indicate the lack of effort he is putting forth to make this game interesting. 

I have tried chatting with him to prod him to respond faster, but my last message of, “if I miss your next word because I have died of old age, it was nice playing with you,” caused him to respond with, “fart,” which I have to think is short for “old fart.”  Luckily, I discovered that you can taunt chat with your opponent during a game, although my daughter did not mention this feature to me when she explained the game, so I was very lucky to come across it all on my own.  I find it is fun to post comments about my adversary’s word choice, how much they stink, or just some fun facts like, “looks like I just opened a can of whoop ass on you.”   

I think it adds a bit of levity to the game, but so far, the only comments I have gotten back are, shut up, grow up and one time by a particularly sore loser, I am never playing again with you.

 

I am now playing a game with a total stranger, thanks to my daughter’s concern for my safety.  On Sunday, somebody sent me a challenge and I asked her if it was her screen name and she said to accept the challenge. Only after I accepted, did she mention that she has no idea who this person happens to be and did not seem overly concerned when I said, “you mean I could be playing Words with People Who Want to Steal My Identity?”  Or what if the guy I am playing is getting kicked off of a plane somewhere, because I just played the best word ever and he just has to respond?  She said she doubted that would happen, but we all know weirder things have happened.

When I asked her how I stop the game, she said I have to wait until my opponent resigns.  I have no idea if she is telling me the truth or just yanking my chain, and I feel like I did when we got our first computer years ago and our teenage daughter set up her own security as a Mature Adult.  I went to work the next day and told my co-worker the trouble with having a computer is my kids know more than I do about operating one and my daughter knows I do not have a clue how to go in and change her security restrictions.  Luckily, I have found, over the years, that threats work almost better than knowledge.

 

Meanwhile, I told my daughter that I hope this total stranger doesn’t think we are playing Words with Friends with Benefits or that this innocent interaction causes her father to fly into a jealous rage.  Sure enough, she told her dad that I said I had a new man friend who was probably loving playing a game of intellect with a mature woman, and she reported back that he said to tell the guy to add I-M to mature for the word of the day.  Since most of you love and defend Vern, I won’t even tell you what my family went on to say about who they felt my intellectual equal might be and how they hope someone invents an IPaw soon, so Vern dogs can play Words with Friends, with someone who has yet to find a human intellectual equal. 

I told Vern and Fudge they might be the only two creatures on the planet that I might play nicely with, but I think we all know I am E-X-A-G-G-E-R-A-T-I-N-G.

 

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

LOL Laurie, I have filed this thought in my "hope I remember" category: NEVER play a game with Laurie so that we may remain friends.

[Donna K & Quincy]

You had me worried there for a minute, I thought you were going to blog about our little word games here on DK. I love Scrabble, in fact, I love all word games. I play an online game called Word Battle and I lose more often than I win but that doesn't stop me from playing. I am glad you are such a good sport when playing games and don't stoop to gloating or any other forms of poor sportsmanship. If you want to play Word Battle sometime here is the link. If I am playing you will have no trouble recognizing by user name.

https://www.king.com/login.jsp?redirect=true&language=en&ta...

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

I H-A-T-E Scrabble, and therefore, I have resisted any opportunity to join in the Words with Friends craze.  My mother was a Scrabble queen.  No one could ever beat her.  Then along came my husband, Mr. Cut Throat!  Each time we would visit my parents, a game of Scrabble would break out - often because my (then) young daughter would beg to play.  Doug and my mom would play for blood, so why Rebecca would want to play with them is beyond me.  There would be taunting, gloating, belittling - all the best "sportsmanship" characteristics.    I would never join in, preferring to sit nearby and read or watch TV.  Even today, the thought of Scrabble gives me chills!!

By the way, love Bad Words with Fiends - very clever!    

[Carol and Banjo]

OMD Laurie......you had me at "Please shoot me"!   THIS IMO is your funniest post yet!   I laughed (I cried) all the way through.....had to keep wiping the tears from my eyes.   I pity the poor stranger in cyber space -  he has NO idea who he's up against!   (Oh!  I don't mean that literally.)

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

My daughter got me started on WWF and then quit playing with me (sorry loser, lol!)  I currently have TOO many games going with friends who have nothing better to do!! I try to tell them that I have a life -- I have a DOODLE that needs my attention (forget about my DH...it's about priorities...) I should let you play with one of my friends -- I absolutely cannot beat her and it makes me so angry!