I have never really played cards. A lot of families used to when I was growing up, but mine never did. I recently fancied challenging my brain a bit. Usually when this happens I go for a lie down and wait for it to pass. It persisted though.

I asked a friend who plays Bridge in tournaments to explain the rules to me. After a few minutes I felt quite unwell, and begged him to stop. He stopped short of saying I am too thick to play, but that was the gist of it. I fared no better when he tried me with cribbage.

Then Spock recalled a game he used to play with his grandad, called Trente et Une. This was much better. We have probably played a dozen times or so now, for around an hour each time and I have never won a game. There is also a win called "Blitz", when you get exactly 31 cards. He has at least one every time we play, I have not had any.

Likewise Scrabble. I am better by far at spelling and words but he beats me every time. Last time I repeatedly got nothing but vowels, 5 i's and 2 a's don't get you very far.

I am inclined to think I am plain unlucky, but another possibility occurs. I am concentrating on my own cards/letters to see what I can make of them. He however is doing everything to stymie me, cutting off my opportunities, plotting and scheming like a weasel.

We all know talented and likeable people who never seem to get far, even though they have been dealt a good hand. Others don't just make the most of what they were dealt, they are prepared to do everything to destroy the competition. Spock sees this as a compliment when I accuse him.

I know some people don't accept the part that fate plays in life. I am very fatalistic, but also agree that we can steer things to some extent. I have known some very successful people who started with nothing, my father among them. It has to be said they were all pretty ruthless when it came to came to using people, in both business and private life. When I met my ex he was sharing a flat with a professional gambler. This man was making a good living, but he was a deeply unpleasant individual.

Happily Spock seems to confine this unpleasant trait to games with me, but it has made me think - do we ever really know another person? 

Val

A Moodscope member