As a kid one of my favorite games to play was LIFE. You got to plan out your entire future from college to retirement, by spinning a number wheel and seeing where you landed. You cheered when you won big money, you figured out which starter house was more appropriate and tried to save big for the real house. You contemplated children's names when you landed on a space saying, 'it's a boy!" or "it's a girl" and if you were really lucky you landed on the twins space and not only contemplated names but the gender of your; both girls, both boys or maybe a boy and a girl. Recently, I had the opportunity to play the game again with the kids I babysit, and I realized a couple of things playing the game as a college graduate, who is playing the game of life for real.
1. I wish I could actually pay my college debt in pink and blue pieces of paper.
2. Wouldn't it be nice to actually get major amounts of money for big accomplishments? You adopted a pet, here's $40,000!
3. Why don't these people have to pay for everyday luxuries like electric, water and a phone bill?
4. How come you have to pay $5,000 to furnish a baby room, when you might not land on one of the have a baby tiles.
5. I wish I received a $10,000 raise every other time I get paid.
6. Why are there so many lawsuit tiles? Do people actually sue and get sued so often?
7. How come there is a huge stop sign to get married that everyone has to follow. What if people do not want to get married?
8. When you get married why do you spin a wheel to see how much everyone has to pay you? Greedy much?
9. How come we do not pay insurance on the cars our little pink and blue people ride around in.
10. Why aren't there different types of cars for the people to accommodate having more than four children?
11. There are a lot of tiles dedicated to winning big money on TV shows. Guess it is time to sign up for "The Voice".
12. Can I be a grandparent without having kids first?
13. Someone please tell me where the $500,000 treasure is.
14. It would be really nice if my future children gave me $10,000 each when I retire.
15. I hope I have more than $2,000,000 when I retire.
Despite some of the unrealistic opportunities in The Game of Life, it was and still is a great game to play! And even though there isn't a wheel of numbers controlling what happens in your real life, it is just as unpredictable as the game. So kick back in your little purple car and enjoy the ride!
