Plumbing the Depths of Nerdity

Allow me to regale you with a tale from real life. Specifically: "what I did with my Sunday".

The missus and I met up with a couple of mates of ours, one of whom tried to trick me into wearing the same shirt as him, so he could claim to waitresses and other passers-by that we were twin brothers. I'm not sure why.

We went to eat breakfast, which took far too long, but was tasty when it arrived. We discussed plans for some sort of new entrepreneurial venture on which we could all retire. I think we came up with some halfway decent ideas, but I'm not sure I can see us actually following through on any of them.

Then the missus had to go to work, so we all walked her down there. She found out that her lunch break was only a couple of hours into her shift, so the three of us decided to hang around and wait for her.

So here's where the nerdity comes in. Lately, the four of us had been indulging something of a jones for boardgames. And while we were standing around discussing what to do with the two hours before the missus's lunchbreak, we happened to be standing right next to a display of boardgames. So, in a joking sort of a way, I suggested "hey, why don't we buy a copy of Risk, and have a game in the cafe, until we're ready to go to lunch."

Which, I'm a little ashamed to say, is exactly what we did.

Little did I know, however, how long a game of Risk actually takes to play. I have vague memories of playing it as a child, but I couldn't remember anything specific about the game. The box looked cool, though.

So, 7 hours later, we have to leave the store, because it's closing. We've spent the entire time hunched around a table, playing a single game of Risk, except for the twenty minutes or so it took us to eat the pizza that we ordered from the shop around the corner. 7 hours of playing Risk in a non-operating cafe in a bookstore, while the missus worked her entire shift in the next section over. Some young girls laughed at us.

And the worst part is - the board was in a very similar position to where it started, when we were forced to abandon the game. Each of the three players had a similar number of units, and each held exactly two continents each.

I'm forced to admit, however, that it was actually a hell of a good time. Now that I know that you can't get a game finished in two hours, however, we'll plan differently. The next time we play, there will be privacy, more comforatble seating, music, snacks, and an accessible supply of booze.