Haha, well, let’s pretend it never happened. Instead, let us hark back to one year ago today, when Seal hit the ice, recreational photographs of Time’s Person of the Year yielded far more impressive abdominals, Rudy Giuliani was to be our next president, and a new kind of game entered our lives: “The Ungame.” Behold it!

—

If you’re like me, you can get pretty stressed out during the holiday season. Sure, social gatherings are fun, but trying to make chit-chat with all those family members, business contacts, and new acquaintances can be a real chore. Not this year. A friend of mine picked up a fun little ice-breaker at a church rummage sale that might help us out. I give you “Ungame”:

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve exhausted myself trying to facilitate polite conversation between children, gray-haired women, and mustachioed dudes in vests. Thank goodness for Ungame. Shall we play? Go on, you start. Yes, you in the vest. Pick a card:

Thanks for sharing. That was fun, non-threatening, and non-competitive. And don’t we all know a little bit more about hitchhiking now?

Hey, little one, it’s your turn. Go on:

Hmm. Well, that’s a little bit heavy, isn’t it? Why don’t we just put that card back in the deck. Maybe we’ll tackle that one later, once you find out what “suicide” means. Go on, Grandma, it’s your turn. Tell us:

That’s certainly topical. It’s alright, pick again. With Ungame, there are oodles of topics to choose from. How about this one:

I suppose there’s no harm in rehashing the will again, just to be sure. Oh, don’t feel down, Grandma. It’s just a game. Pick again:

Thanks for playing, Grandma. What do you say we pull one last card and call it a day?

I think we all learned a lot about each other today.