No, no, no. I’ve never played Uno. It wasn’t part of my childhood board game life. And despite the popularity of adult board game nights some of which are great (though I once murdered my entire army because I got bored during a night of Risk) and many I’ve declined, (like, hard pass, Settlers of Catan) I’ve still never played Uno. The only special card games with special cards I remember were Scopa and Briscola played at my Nonno and Nonna’s house, them and their friends throwing down Italian cards with Italian suits and Italian illustrations and shouting joyfully in Italian. Not just one word, like, “Uno!” Lots of words. Lots of laughter. Lots of shouting. No, we never played Uno. We learned to gamble with pennies. Sure, we played Crazy Eights, but I remember five card stud (never Texas hold ‘em) and blackjack. I felt very cool because I was using real adult cards for adults for adult card business. We played together. Never Uno. Uno is one. I’m not into Solitaire. But Uno. There was always just something about it that wasn’t appealing. Maybe that was it. The concept of one. I’ve never liked to be alone. I’m not a solitary creature. When I’m alone it’s serious. I have to play inside with the hardest parts of my brain. When I’m with other people, it’s a good time, people finally getting together, like Milton Bradley advertised in the late 90s. Nope. No Uno. Though I guess deep down we’re all alone, like some plastic-coated paper tossed onto wet concrete, flimsy on the inside, a hard outer shell even acid rain can’t wash away. And if we’re lucky most of us will break down into papery mulch mostly after we’re dead, and not while we’re still here, trying to make connections, to have a time. Most of us won’t feel like a solitary card left behind after a game of 52 pickup.
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Dina Del Bucchia is a writer, podcaster, literary event host, editor and otter and dress enthusiast living in Vancouver on unceded Coast Salish territory. She is the author of the short story collection, Don’t Tell Me What to Do, and four collections of poetry: Coping with Emotions and Otters, Blind Items, Rom Com, written with Daniel Zomparelli, and the newly released, It’s a Big Deal! She was a senior editor of Poetry Is Dead magazine, the Artistic Director of the Real Vancouver Writers’ Series and hosts the podcast, Can’t Lit, with Jen Sookfong Lee. http://dinadelbucchia.com/
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