January 2010...
We were having a game night with our two good friends Renee and Derrick. They were coming over to the townhouse I was living in at the time (this was before Whitney and I were married). When we do game nights, we usually bring four or five games down and narrow the field from there. On this occasion, Renee brought the game of Life - except it was a different edition. This was the Game of Life: Twists and Turns Edition. The original Life had been a favorite of mine growing up. I like that I could get a college education (or not) and get married, and have kids, play the stock market, buy insurance, retire, and maybe become a millionaire at the age of twelve and do so in just over an hour. But this edition was more.
The Game of Life: Twists and Turns Edition has the same concept of the original game except your money is on an electronic debit card. You can set how many years (turns) you want to play. It moves along a lot faster and different jobs, salaries, and twists and turns that can make win or lose at any moment.There isn't a finish line. At the end of the years, everyone's total is added up. Money is converted to "life points" and your experiences (marriage, kids, etc.) is also converted. You could have all the money in the world, but if you don't have family, your life may not be worth spit. That's the underlying message of the game. That's the way I see it anyway. We ended the night, had a good time, and everyone went home happy. But that wasn't the end.
In every person's life there comes a time when one obsesses about something. It's when you experience something so great that it lingers for days and weeks, and months. Twists and Turns was such a thing. It lingered for a few days. Then a few weeks. I would say, "Wasn't that game fun?"
"What game?"
"You know - the Life: Twists and Turns game we played."
"Yeah..."
I had to have it. I had to have it!
A few weeks later, Whitney and I were hanging out at her parent's house.
"Let's play a game" Whitney suggested.
"Like what?" I said.
"Well, let's see."
Whitney's parents had a cabinet of games. Dominoes. Cards. Aggravation.
"There's about four versions of Monopoly down there..." Whitney's dad said. He was ridiculed for that statement.
"You know what I would love to play?" I said, dreaming.
"What?"
"Life: Twists and Turns Edition. I wonder if it's available somewhere."
The truth is, I already had looked. It wasn't on Amazon. It wasn't on Barnes and Noble, or Target. I found it on a game board enthusiast site for about $50. The truth was, I discovered, the game was out of print as of a few months ago. Whatever stock existed was left on shelves at stores here and there. But I hadn't checked Wal-mart. (What would we do without Walmart?) So, I did what anyone in our generation would do. I pulled out the iPhone and looked on the Walmart mobile app to check inventory at local stores.
"They have three copies at the one in Garner. Let's go!"
Off we went. It was about 8pm at night, but that store was just about 10 minutes away. We arrived, and quickly went to the toy section. It was a mess.
It's important to note that this was just after Christmas. Which means that every Walmart in America was selling discounted overstock of EVERYTHING and every aisle was a disaster area.
So, we started searching. The game aisle turned up nothing. We checked the clearance aisle. It was full of Monopolies (multiple editions), Risk, Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, and the Game of Life - boring, old, regular, non-electronic, straight edge edition. No Twists or Turns.
"Let's ask someone," I suggested - which really means, "Whitney, why don't you ask someone?" She has a sweet smile that turns stubborn, rude, store employees into magical, helpful philanthropists. That's why she had to ask.
Whitney found someone and he said, "We have that game right over here."
My heart raced. Finally!
"Here you are." The employee guided us to a stack of the Game of Life: Dull Edition.
"Thanks..."
It was pointless to try to explain. But our trusty mobile app said that the Walmart on New Hope Road had a few. What's another twenty minutes?
We arrived to find that store in worse shambles. And it was spookier. No luck.
"Since we are here, we might as well run over to the one on New Bern Ave." I knew it was late, but it was so close.
"It's late."
"But it's so close." Convincing argument, right?
So, we jumped in the car again and went to New Bern Avenue. Our last stop. We searched. No luck.
"Can I help with you something?" said a voice.
Walmart employees are sometimes considered to be mythical creatures. That's why you should know that when a Walmart employee asks if you need help with something, you say yes. If you say no, they disappear and you will never find one again.
"Yes. We are looking for a game. The Game of Life: Twists and Turns."
"We have lots of those!" she said.
"No you don't." I explained it all again. How this game was different. This was not a white box. This was not cash based, but credit based, electronic transfers. Twists. Turns.
"Let me check our inventory."
We followed her up front and explained our plight to a cashier who looked bored and needed a story.
"Why don't you check the other stores?"
"I did. There should be two at the store in Holly Springs."
I explained that we looked at inventories online. They lied. Was her inventory lying?
"No. The online ones get messed up because people make stuff up."
I didn't know what that meant. Except that we were driving to Holly Springs. That Walmart was big, and huge, and new and clean. They had to have it.
We got there (it was now about 9:30pm). Game aisle turned up empty. Clearance aisle. Disaster. I looked under racks, between shelves, behind Clue. Nothing. The inventory lied. After twenty minutes of searching (and involving two other employees) we came up empty. This game didn't exist. Two hours, half a tank of gas, and four Walmart visits brought us nothing.
Fast Forward Four Months.
Whitney and I are preparing for our wedding just a few months away. I'm at Walmart. I'm only there to get a few things. But, something inside me that day...something nudged me. I can't explain it...to this day I can't explain it. Instead of turning left to check out, I turned right. What is in the seasonal clearance section today? You never know. Maybe that game, that old, out of print, long forgotten game, of twists, turns - maybe it's here today.
I slowly walked down the clearance racks. Old stuffed toys. A bunch of action figures from last season. A slew of Elmo merchandise. This was a bad idea, I begin to think. I start to walk away when something sparkles in the right corner of my eye. I turn. There on the shelf, sat a lone, isolated, sole, copy of the Game of Life: Twists and Turns. My jaw drops. Sure, the box is bent but it's the only one. The only one! And I have it at last! I called Whitney.
"You'll never guess what I just found!"
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