\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change the rules after you play the game.” There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no other way of saying that.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be redundant to simply rephrase it, play verbal checkers and substitute a few words, like this: You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change the rules after you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already agreed on them, even if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re unhappy with the outcome of the process.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 There, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not really better, just different.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Until last night, I was involved in a process with others in which every participant has gotten many chances to voice his or her opinion. My concern, for several months has been that mere whim trumps agreed-upon rules, and when the outcome displeases one, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the desire to re-create the past.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I ruminated over this principle for hours last night and was able to recall several examples in which the axiom gets applied.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In the heat of a national primary convention, a dozen years ago, in which Democrats take on Democrats and Republicans do the same to fellow GOP members \u00e2\u20ac\u201d before kissing and making up, the rules\/game principle was applied. I recall that two strong factions agreed to put a delegate matter to a vote.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Obviously, one side expected to win that contest, but when it got clobbered, the losing side asked for a re-vote, with a few crucial amendments. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change the rules . . . etc,” some shouted.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Then, in a real shockeroo, one of those proposing the change took a half hour of his five-minute allotment and said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I realize we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change the rules after we play the game.” As politicians are wont to do, he provided a pregnant pause, then said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but this is not a game.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Waaaiiittt a second! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true that they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly playing tic-tac-toe or Scrabble; they were voting on a weighty issue. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true there weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t whistle-blowing referees there to assess personal fouls. Still, the analogy \u00e2\u20ac\u201d or as my English teacher would say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a metaphor, Arthur” \u00e2\u20ac\u201d applies: There were rules, you agreed to them, and when you lost, you wanted to change them.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Having played many parlor games in my youth, whether Old Maid, Crazy Eights, Canasta or checkers, I am painfully familiar with competing against some people who want to win at all costs. They try every trick to win, and some suggest, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How about the best two out of three?” That tack gives the original loser a chance to win a couple of straight games, or ask for the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153best three out of five,” or even \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the best 51 out of 100,” depending on the streak. But it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really change the rules.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 As for me, I never felt any zeal to win at parlor games. If we enjoyed the game and all of us felt good afterwards, winning wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t important to me.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Really.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d become impatient when one of the players would say, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I realize I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t buy Boardwalk and Park Place when I landed on them an hour ago, but now that you might land on one of them, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve changed my mind. I want to buy them and build hotels.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Another specific case of changing the rules after the fact came when two older boys challenged three of us to a game of basketball \u00e2\u20ac\u201d first team to hit 20 wins it.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The Railroad barrio we tamed wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly a hoopster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s paradise, the only inflated ball belonging to brothers Jimmy and Clyde. They allowed all to use it, provided it stayed in the yard.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 My buddies and I were about 12 at the time, challenged by two other boys around 15. So cocky were they that they even gave us the ball first. That allowed us to do our Alan Iverson-Michael Jordan heroics, and we actually beat them. We didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possess any particular skills, but since we outnumbered them, it was easier for one of us to break for the basket.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We won 20-14. The older boys huddled, and instead of asking for a re-match, did some fast computations that would have made our math teacher at Immaculate Conception School \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Sister Mary Tangentia Cosine \u00e2\u20ac\u201d quite proud.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The vanquished teens reasoned that since there were only two of them, their seven baskets should count for three points each, for a total of 21, which means, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We beat you, suckers!” They had come up with a three-point shot well before it got introduced into the NBA.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Well, our side didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t concede, even after one of them invited all of us to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153step outside to settle this.” He punctuated the invitation by spitting out a rotten tooth, which may have gotten rearranged in a scramble for a rebound, or perhaps kept handy for occasions like this. Then he repeated, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s schtep outside.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Did our opponent fail to notice we already were outside? The last time anybody checked, the Apodacas\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 back yard didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a dome.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The error hit us winners at the same time, and we cracked up. My (suppressed) impulse was to suggest that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we all step inside to settle it.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Before the bigger boys tried to persuade us to tinker with the scoreboard, we vanished. They strutted off, proud of having \u00e2\u20ac\u0153won” a game, 21-20, by changing the rules, which, they said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153is only fair.”
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We snuck off, proud of having won by insisting we all stick to the rules.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Parlor games and even one-on-one basketball have become rarer in recent years, and recalling instances in which people would actually storm off after losing a game of cards or marbles still surprised me. Some of those who want to undo the past to increase their chances of winning this time, invariably start their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a game, Silly \u00e2\u20ac\u201d don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take it so seriously” mantra.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Well, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m through expounding on the difficulty of rephrasing the axiom. If someone can come up with a succinct equivalent, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll even agree to help you finance a hotel on Boardwalk.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Or let you count each basket as three points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change the rules after you play the game.” There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no other way of saying that. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be redundant to simply rephrase it, play verbal checkers and substitute a few words, like this: You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change the rules after you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already agreed on them, even if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re unhappy with the outcome of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}