BINGO! Just What A Game Should Be

I remember when my Uncle Charlie used to go out every Saturday to play bingo, and he would invariably go out happy and come home happy, no matter what. For such a simple and easy game it certainly calls people to it with a fervor usually devoted to more vivid or athletic games–but perhaps that is where the attraction in bingo lies. Bingo is a simple game. Bingo is an easy game. Bingo is a game that is played with friends. Bingo is played in communities. And so, therein lay the attraction for my Uncle Charlie, I’m sure. He’d come back with all sorts of conversation scraps, bits of peoples lives, and glimpses of all his friends and neighbors’ faces.

Along with the grids and numbers and little white balls, he got what he really wanted–a community. Bingo to him was not so much about winning–in fact, I can never really recall any time when he really discussed scores or wins when he got home. Bingo was about sharing, and about being with fellow human beings. Settled comfortably with a simple game of bingo amongst friends or strangers, everyone could find a common ground upon which to easily relate and be together. And with that in mind, bingo is just what a game should be!