Uncool beans

Like many DGN blog posts, this harkens back to my skool daze. There was a fundraiser where buying a ticket allowed you a guess at the number of jelly beans in a jar. The prize for the nearest guesser was a shiny "Monopoly" set.

Now, I think we can all agree that "Monopoly" is a terrible game. A player can win or lose through naught but dumb luck. But leisure activities were way more limited then and it was a popular option. Boardgames were comparatively exy, too. They were cherished items.

As an aside, I played most of my childhood "Monopoly" against my pal MG. He always insisted on being Banker, since he owned the set, and he always seemed to have a spare $500 note tucked away just when he needed it...

The guessing competition was a hit and, naturally, I paid for a go, attempting to fill a mental model to determine the quantity of beans. Amazingly, I was only one away from the correct number. As was someone else.

Let's say there were 763 jelly beans in the jar. I guessed 762, while an adult stranger (another pupil's parent?) guessed 764. The brand-spanking copy of "Monopoly" would be mine! You know where this is heading, right?

Despite the fact that the golden rule for this type of comp was, is and ever shall be "closest to the mark *without going over*", the organisers gave me the lollies because I was a kid and kids like lollies, and a woman I didn't know got the boardgame.

As a child, you don't protest these things, except quietly to your classmates. You scoff the sugary beans, give yer mum the jar for her kitchen and accept that life isn't fair - as you lose your umpteenth round of "Monopoly" to a pal who regularly sneaks extra money out of the bank.