Skip to main content

Play Along



I can’t remember where I saw it, but I chanced upon an online conversation about creating a Howard County Monopoly game. I think it was a purely hypothetical proposition. One of the participants recalled there being an actual Columbia Monopoly game, back in the day.

Was there really such a thing? Do any of my readers have one? I’d love to see it.

If there were a Columbia/HoCo Monopoly game, what would you want it to contain? What streets/neighborhoods would be essential? Would you want to add in local parks? Merriweather? The Chrysalis? What about the Mall? Would the Fairgrounds be on your game board? Perhaps some of the major local farms?

Draw a card:


  • Stuck in traffic due to downed tree on Route 32. Lose one turn.
  • No parking at the Mall on a Friday night. Lose one turn.
  • Your home project is immediate approved by your local RAC. Skip ahead three spaces.
  • Columbia Flier/HoCo Times prints your letter to the editor. Take an additional turn.
  • Unexpected goats are blocking your driveway. Go back three spaces.
As always, what do you think? What would make for the quintessential Columbia/HoCo Monopoly game? What tweaks to the original would add to the fun of game play, personalizing it to our local experiences? 

Things have been so heavy around here lately that a bit of play might be just what we need.

*****

UPDATE: I have been informed by a reader that there is a perfectly vile version of this concept circulating in some social media circles. I just want to make it clear that is not where I saw it. I think it is safe to say that I don’t hang out in that part of the Internet. So please take this post in the spirit in which it was intended: that of innocent, light-hearted fun.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more