In a great upset, the last round of the illustrious game left me in defeat. It now stands at
- Julie: four wins
- Mark: two wins
I really hate losing.
“You have all the resources! Stop building roads! You’re stealing my road strategy! Now you’re stealing my development card strategy! My gosh, you’re killing me! How many points do you have?! I’m dying here! Stop putting the robber on that square! Oh man, now you have maritime trading at your disposal!” and so on, I went, all but pounding the table or eating the cards in my hand out of nervousness. And he just sat across the table chuckling and grinning evilly and mocking my pain as he wracked up victory points and piles of resources and built roads upon roads.
“I don’t know which I enjoy more,” Mark said at game’s end, “playing the game or watching you get so worked up about it.”
Some people are just about pushing other people’s buttons.
I don’t know if I can take the continued stress that that game brings. Upon learning he had studied/developed strategy for the next game, I panicked and wasted an hour or more of my life on line boning up on strategy for my own use.
At this point, any time I get to goading him about any little thing in life, all he has to say is “I won the last game of Catan” and I am put into an angry stupor, unable to continue any further conversation. I respond back with text messages in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and many exclamation points, steam rolling out my ears.
I’ve even created a cartoon of the phenomenon, which involves (true story) me winning three in a row and Mark telling me why they weren’t true wins just to watch me get all frustrated and annoyed. And then, after another of my illustrious victories, having him “win” at stacking the game pieces without falling and trying to steal my glory. Sounds childish? Oh, it is. Here’s the cartoon.
I’m incredibly competitive when it comes to playing games. My family won’t play Trivial Pursuit or Pictionary with me any more (my two favorite games), one because I’m a freak on detail and the other because I’m a…screamer. I break pencil leads in massive rages.
“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT’S THE VENUS DE MILO?! SHE HAS NO ARMS! I EVEN ADDED CHIAROSCURO TO THE DRAWING!!” I holler in a tense round of Pictionary, jabbing my pencil against the paper pad.
In other related links, check out this cool Settlers of Catan cake. Very cool.
