"Cribbage Magnetism"

When I started dating after my divorce, I was told to “get a puppy”. The advice was to go walking with a puppy and the little pooch would be a “chick magnet”.

Well, I never did get a dog, but I think the advice is correct. I’ve noticed that men walking dogs tend to have females come over to them, pat the dog, and then chat.

Well, I think I’ve found a “tourist magnet” – cribbage.

This phenomenon started last year when we started playing cribbage in the front part of the coffee shop. On many occasions, tourists would step into the shop, spot us playing cribbage and say things like, “Oh, cribbage. I haven’t played in more than ten years.” … or since they were kids… or since they were in college. We’d always ask if they wanted to play, and a decent number of them would. They’d sit down and we’d play a game or two..

What I like about cribbage is that it’s a very “social” game. You can play it and chat with someone without giving up a competitive advantage. We’d always learn about where the “tourist-turned-cribbage-player” came from…what they were planning for their vacation… or places they’d already seen on vacation… and once in a while we’d be able to tell them about where the good restaurants are…  stuff  like that.

Well, this season, we are off and running with the “cribbage magnet” again. Six delightful ladies came in this morning and two of them were former cribbage players. It’s like riding a bike – once you learn how, you never really forget how to play.  Cribbage is a fairly quick game… so we played a 4-handed game in the time it took to get their food order ready. Then we continued the conversation over their late-morning breakfast.

I don’t know what the fascination is with cribbage. I guess it’s because you use a special board for keeping score, so you don’t have to ask what you are playing. I’m also amazed at how many (as in, virtually everyone) learned the game as a kid… either because their parents or grandparents played the game… or because it was an interesting way to practice your number skills at an early age.  I never learned to play bridge, or gin rummy, until I was of college-age, but cribbage…  I learned that as a kid… from my grandfather.

I’m passing along that tradition. My son and his family live in Iowa, and whenever I go out for a visit, I play at least one cribbage game each day with my granddaughter, Katelyn. (She beats me, too)

So, if you are single and looking for a mate, I’m not sure a game of cribbage will attract someone as quickly as a puppy, but I do know this – you don’t have to house-train a cribbage board.