Pete's Game Of Life Circa 1995

When people first meet my family, most are taken aback by our sense of humor. We all joke around a lot and the basic rule of thumb for us is that we appreciate the quality of the insult more than the joke itself. The quality of the insult, such as the way the joke or comment is structured or how much thought and cleverness is put into the phrase is most valued. And, in the end, potentially the more painfully truthful and/or sometimes inappropriate, the more effective the joke may be. We are never offended by the joke itself, instead we just appreciated the work taken in creating it.

Pete, Charles, Steve and John as
See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil and Smell No Evil

This is best shown in the way my brothers handled my 30th birthday. For most people, their 30th birthday is a big celebration and a lot of fun. For me, my 30th occured during a tough time, personally. I was recovering from intestinal surgery, I was unemployed and I was living with my in-laws... not a proud moment, to be sure.

So, in line with our sense of humor, my brothers made a board game called "Pete's Game Of Life"... the game contained a couple of "players", a game board with a path to take, a spinning wheel, a single die and cards that you would use if you landed on certain spots on the game board.

• Each side of the die was whited out, with the exception of the One. So, the most you can roll is a One.
• When you spun the wheel you could land on two sections. One section, which covered 99% of the wheel, was labelled BANKRUPT. The second section, which contained 1% of the wheel, was labelled YOU'RE A WINNER, in which you had to pick a card.
  
• When you picked up one of the cards, about 80% were I.O.U.'s. Other cards that you could select were "Go Borrow Something From Your Family," "You Get To Live With Your In-Laws," and "Sorry, We Already Have Someone In Mind For That Position."

I believe most people would find such a gift at that time in my life offensive, but I found it very funny. It's a perfect symbol of our sense of humor... after all, no matter how truthful and brutal "Pete's Game Of Life" was, it was very clever, inventive and took a lot of work. Surprisingly, it is one of the only things that I look back on during that year of my life with fondness.

Yeah, I know... we're weird. But funny.