Words With Strangers

 "If you're going to play at all, you're out to win.  Baseball, board games, playing Jeopardy.  I hate to lose." - Derek Jeter

I don't like to lose at the big things but it doesn't much matter to me if I lose at a game of cards or a board game.  And I don't play Words With Friends because I'm out to win.  I actually enjoy playing a lot more against someone who can give me some competition.  It isn't as much fun to play against a weak opponent.  For one thing, I don't learn much from those games.  When I'm playing against a strong opponent, I learn new words.  I like words so that is a big bonus for me.

Unfortunately, there is a big time shift with most of the friends I play with.  Four of my five friends live in England.  When I feel like playing a game late in the evening while I watch TV, they are asleep.  So when I get the late night yen for a game, I elect the Smart Match option and the game automatically finds me a stranger to play with.  Most of the time, it's fun.  I've played with people all over the U.S. and the odd time from the U.K.  There is a chat feature on our games and usually at some point when one or the other of us has made a good play or is struggling, we will start to chat.  The comments usually don't go much beyond congratuations for a nice play or a groan about having consistently bad letters.  Sometimes we will exchange first names and locations in the world.  At the holidays, we exchanged Christmas and New Year's greetings.  

Sometimes I play two or three games against the same player.  Unfortunately, we're rarely evenly matched.  I'm a pretty good player and I think it discourages some people to continue after two or three consecutive losses.  If I lose, I usually invite my opponent to play again.  About a week ago, I found myself playing in a Smart Match against an opponent in Florida named Bonnie.  We played a couple of games and engaged in some innocuous chat.  I learned that Bonnie was originally from Ohio and had retired to Florida to escape the harsh winter.  Bonnie isn't a terrific player but she could play a decent game.  I enjoyed playing with her.  I was a little taken back when she asked me if I was cheating.  She was having a bad game - it happens to all of us.  After all, much of success in the game is about being lucky in drawing good tiles.  She wasn't experiencing luck in the draw.  I was.  If there is a way to cheat at Words With Friends, I don't know what it is.  I assured Bonnie that I was not cheating.  The next time I played a high scoring word, she resigned the game.  

Last night Smart Match paired me with a chatty opponent.  With the first move he asked my gender.  With the second, my age.  I assured him I am old enough to be his mother.  Then he asked for my picture.  From a bit of sleuthing on his screen name, I soon realized he was playing from an Oklahoma prison.  I think he was looking for a fantasy.  I was just looking for a good game.  He didn't play any words longer than three letters.  I was uncomfortable and so I resigned the game.  My next opponent started complaining about half way through the game that he (or she) just wasn't getting decent letters and would probably delete the game from his play history.  I didn't even know you could do that or why you would want to.  I was playing well.  He was playing adequately but was significantly behind. By the time the letters bag was almost empty, he commented that as a birthday gift to him, I should resign the game.  By the rules of Words With Friends, if you resign a game during play, you automatically lose.  I played my next word and commented that I'm sure he would have better luck next time.  He replied by calling me a word that sent me to the Urban Dictionary for a translation.  It was disgusting.  He stopped playing but still hasn't resigned.  I guess he's trying to wait me out.  He'll be waiting forever.  I don't care about taking the loss but I do care about standing up to a bully - even one whose identity I will never know.  I looked for a mechanism in the game to report him to Words With Friends but I didn't find one.

Today I'm playing against a new opponent.  I don't know if it is a man or a woman or where in the world he or she is located.  I do know that we are pretty evenly matched.  He or she led for most of the game.  We are close to the end now and I've taken the lead.  In the end, it doesn't much matter to me.  I've learned some new words.  It's been fun.