Insight - BINGO! - By Michelle Libby

I didn’t win. (Kinda like telling the end of the story at the beginning.)
 

It’s rare that I do, but Tuesday night I brought my brand new Dollar Tree dobbers, a willing victim as my sidekick and $10 to purchase my cards. I was ready for BINGO at the Windham Veterans Center. After getting situated and catching up on the game, we realized how out of our league we were. 

It wasn’t just BINGO from indoor recess when we were kids, it was a serious game. The light up board and the other players with their good luck charms and BINGO bags to carry their dobbers in all colors of the rainbow were intimidating. 

I saw one woman rub her good luck charm on her card. She didn’t win that game, but she won the next one. 

How do these people decide which color dobber to use? And do they change depending on what color the border is? I chose a red dobber because it’s my son’s favorite color, so that had to be lucky right? Other than that I had no lucky items. And it showed. 

The wonderful gentlemen from American Legion Post 128 were running the games, the snacks, pull tabs and monitoring the players. They watched us closely to see if we were lost. I took to giving the ball caller the thumbs up if we were good to go. The men took the time to explain everything to us and to give us tips on how to make our job dobbing easier and faster. 

With games from nine in a corner, hard-way BINGO and the champagne glass that I liked to refer to as a margarita glass with a swizzle stick, every game was a new experience. 

Thank you to the ladies who were sitting next to us. They were helpful to us newbies and I believe they were rewarded for their kindness by winning three times.

During the intermission, Bruce, one of the American Legion leaders, came over to tutor us more so we’d be ready for the next round of games. 

Back to the games. My friend was chatty while she marked off her nine cards, at one point I looked over and said, “Geez, you have a BINGO.” She got all excited and jumped around a bit yelling “BINGO, I have BINGO.” 

I wasn’t jealous…much. After all I provided her with the cards, dobber and obviously the good luck. Her dobber was blue…hmmm. I might use that one next time. 

All in all it was a great night out and we didn’t get lynched in the parking lot for being a little rowdy and not knowing what we were doing. 

I hope others will consider supporting the American Legion by attending BINGO. The more people, the more we can win and I must be due.