Obsession

People often ask me how often I play and, when this question comes up, I am a little embarrassed to admit that I have a game four or five times a week. I don't tell them that, when a day comes up with no partner scheduled, I feel a mild sort of anxiety. One of my friend/partners admitted that she is thinking about cutting back on her playing a bit. The conversation went something like this:

"I'm thinking of cutting back on bridge."

I answered, "I've been giving that some thought myself."

She said, "Maybe three times a week. No wait, maybe four. Except for tournaments of course. I want you and I to get to a twice monthly game. Then I have games set up for....."

Addiction? Obsession? It's hard to say. Certainly, the lure of bridge with its intermittent reward system works the same way that gambling does. We keep returning to the game thinking that next time we will do really well. Luckily, with bridge, I don't lose money like I do in the penny slots or the blackjack machines. If that were the case, I'd be totally broke after four years of mostly losing. However, I keep going back. So does my friend and so does husband/partner who is in a persistent slump. I think it is interesting that all three of us are thinking about spending less time at the bridge club at roughly the same point in our bridge careers, although my friend has been at it longer than I.

We talked about all the projects around the house we never seem to get to. We called each other yesterday when neither of us played and found that we had the same sort of day; cleaned out closets, puttered about in the yard; and thoroughly enjoyed the nice almost spring like day. We agreed that we should allow ourselves those kind of days more often than we seem to. Cut back on bridge time to do that? Yet to be determined.