October 24, 2023 –
I don’t know if you played bingo recently or not. In this 100 percent card game, a winning card is entirely luck. There are approximately 60 million bingo players in the United States, with women playing the game more often.
The typical bingo cards are flat cardboard or paper with 25 squares arranged in a 5×5 grid. Each space in the grid contains a number, except the middle square, designated a “free” space.
My wife suggested that our eleven-year-old daughter broaden her experiences by volunteering at a nearby senior citizen home. Natalie called the home and inquired about volunteering. The activities director said, “Yes, you can call the weekly bingo game.” The director told Natalie how to play the game at the center and instructed her to deal with a hearing-impaired player. She suggested Natalie get up close to the woman’s ear and say the called numbers forcefully.
When Natalie called the first number, B 22, she raised her voice and spoke and spoke into the lady’s right ear. The elderly lady responded, “Not that ear, the other ear!” The room erupted with laughter. It has always amazed me that laughter has a positive or negative effect. The laughter that produces embarrassment is negative. Encouraging laughter is positive.
With Bingo, there’s no way to make a losing card into a winning one. With our daughter, there was no way to turn a lousy volunteering experience into a second experience. Volunteering is over. She doesn’t want ever to hear someone say, “Bingo.”