Walking Wounded

I get comics in my my.yahoo every day. I really enjoyed this one so I thought I’d share it. It’s good for a little chuckle.

Some days you just have a heavy load on your back. Some days you don’t (Or at least feel like you don’t; though some people may always feel heavy loaded, however thats a different subject matter). There is so much I can take from this picture I’ve included (click on image for better view of it). How many of you feel like that woman(it just happens to be a man and woman, gender has nothing to do with this post)? How many of you (like this woman) let yourself carry such a burden when someone is walking right next to you with nothing but a cigarette to smoke.

Let’s assume for this analogy that the guy is willing to help (though I highly doubt that to be true). Let’s also assume he doesn’t even notice how heavy of a load the other person is carrying. Doesn’t it seem rediculous for the woman not to ask for help? How about this? The man asks if that is heavy and could she use help and she answers “No I got it.”

My guess is most people look at this picture and think it is absolutely ludicrous for that situation to happen, but when you look at it from the perspective I just gave, how many of you are just like the woman in the picture?

Don’t feel down. I think everybody does this. Let me give my personal example.

You may remember when I shattered my sliding glass door. I was already stressed that week and that made my burden very heavy. I knew I could use some physical help with the task so I asked my best friend Johnny to help me put the replacement french doors in.

However I spent the entire day stressing and worrying and carrying the entire load of the project. Ya, Johnny was there but all the weight was on me if we couldn’t get it done. I let him help but would not actually let him carry some of my burden. I stressed about every part of the project. Will the doors be in stock in the morning? Will we be able to transport them on Johnny’s car? Will they break in transit? Will they fit in the opening? Will we ever level this thing? I could go on and on.

It’s amazing that I could have someone right there by my side sharing my burden with me while I still carried all the wieght of it. Like in the picture I’m the person carrying all my stress and not letting the other person who is on this walk (project) with me actually carry some of my burden.

If you were the person not carrying anything, wouldn’t you really want to help that other person even just a little bit? I think people (I especially) need to better let others help carry their burdens. Of course there are those who are masters at letting everyone else carry all their burdens but I’m assuming that is the minority.

So who are you in the picture? Do you let others who are perfectly willing help carry the weight of your burdens actually carry it? Did you look at the picture and think it’s ridiculous then realize you are that person and feel silly for being that (as I did)? I’ll have more on this later I’m sure (the post is getting long) but we’ll leave this blog post simply posing the question without really answering it just yet (not that I have an answer but I expect a thought dump on it at some point).

I know I haven’t blogged in a while but it’s been the week from hell and I haven’t had the brain capacity to write anything so I’ve posted a blog I’ve kinda been working on.  You can see it below.  I’m hope some of you will enjoy it.  I have some good blogs in the works so stay tuned.

I have to share why this game is so amazing. I will do so by explaining the unique strategies this game requires. Settlers of Catan is a strategy game unlike any other. It contains so many elements that no other games do. What makes this game so unique is you can actually talk your way into a better game. Your attitude and how you are reflecting how you are doing can completly affect the game. I hope I’m not giving away my strategies to those I play against but oh well, here it goes.

Playing the victim

This is one of my favorite tactics. Playing the pity card if you will. “Don’t take a card from me I’m losing!”. “How could you put the robber on me when Joe Shmoe is banking like crazy off of his wool trade ins!” “Man, it’s like everyone is out to get me this game!” “I swear my numbers never get rolled!”
Playing the victim will often win you sympathy points that can help you in the course of the game. On the bad side, this tactic only works on certain players and it’s really important to figure out who those players are. Another bad side is this can irritate the other players to no end. Though they may quit going after you so you’ll just quit whining, lol.

Playing the loser

Another fending off others tactic is playing like you are definitely going to lose. You don’t care if you win or lose. You kill others’ desires to compete with you by doing this. They (typically less experienced players) will buy into your “well I’m out of this game” and quit focusing on you completely. This only really works if your not in first. You typically have to have tricks up your sleeve that nobody else can see (which is why it doesn’t work on those who are good at this game).

Avoid Rivalry

I have the biggest trouble managing this one. Typically I’m the one in the rivalry. What happens is two people get so focused on beating each other that you can win the game while they are beating each other up. This has to be avoided. I’ve lost so many games because another player and I saw each other as the main competition. It’s hard to do, but be careful of continually going after the same person.

Create Rivalry

“That so mean! I can’t believe you put the robber on him/her again!” “Oh, thats gotta hurt.” “Boy, he/she is sure after you tonight.” “Seven! I know where he/she is going with that robber now.” I think you get my point. Mean, yes, but effective.

Trade Intelligently

This is the biggest mistake I see people make in this game. When someone offers a trade only take it if you would in fact make the same offer during your turn. The “I guess I could use one of those” thought will kill you. Yes, you could use one of those and it will help out your game probably, but the advantage you just gave to the other player is highly unlikely to be worth it. I’ve seen so many players give away games by trading.

Spot Traders

Some people heavily rely on trading as their gameplan. Realize this early and use it against them often. This may even involve cleverly clueing in other players to not trade with that person for such-and-such reason.

Know other players’ cards

This is so much more essencial then people realize. Remember what people have in their hand. This will help you know what trades to offer, what other players will be looking to get, and who to chose from when you move the robber.

What are your favorite strategies?