With boldness bordering on heroism, by about 2:30 I announced that This is Ridiculous and everybody should just go home. With Dickensian fortitude, he declined the request and insisted on keeping everyone there all day. One year I spoke with the owner on the 24th and requested permission to let everyone go at noon. Since the principals took nearly the entire month of December off – as Job Creators this was their god-given right, of course – I was inevitably "in charge" during the holiday season. This struck, and strikes, me as ludicrous and uniquely American. If memory serves, Christmas was a paid holiday (Jewish employees swapped out another day in December and worked Christmas) but we always worked on the 24th and the 26th. It helped somewhat that I was in a semi-managerial position, which is to say that when the people who owned the place and were properly "in charge" were absent, which was often, I was their stand-in.Īs is the case with most wealthy white male businessmen, they did not believe in paid holidays. Collection agencies pay well because they are terrible places to work. Collection agencies pay well and I needed money after graduating from college with a mountain of credit card debt, not to mention the student loans.
In a money game however, this form of "bull" talk will tend to cause problems, especially if the statements are accurate. "Wrong color!" "Are you going alone?" "Damn, I'm bleedin' again!" These phrases may or may not be true and can slide in a friendly game. Sometimes the talk can be interpreted as "illegal" as it pertains to somebody's current hand.
In the event that the scorecards are knocked over, you should know how to reset them.
"Oh, you guys got the first trick? I'm sorry I thought we took 'em all." Sound familiar? I have often found that even honest players sometimes can't resist the temptation to mark 2 points for 4 tricks taken (especially if they took all but the first one), of course "accidentally".