Soulmates- The Game

As a young girl, I was never a huge fan of the game MASH. The game Soulmates was always my choice (isn't it amazing how children can find so many useless ways to occupy themselves). I don't know if you're all that familiar with the game Soulmates, but lately, I've been showing it to more and more people.

One person administers the test to a participant. The participant gives 10 names of people of the opposite sex (so a woman would give 10 guys names). All those on the list must be people both participants know. Gay, single, married... none of this matters. Then, the participant gives the name of 8 people, including themselves, of the same sex (so a woman would give her name and the names of 7 other girls). The administer should also be included on the list. Next the participant gives the numbers 1 through 10 out of order, which the administer places next to the names of the 10 people of the opposite sex, and the numbers 1 through 8 out of order, which the administer places next to the 8 people of the same sex.

The administer asks if the participant can see person #1 on each side together... then person #2, and so on. In this game, it matters not if any person has a different sexual orientation or is in a relationship already. The idea is- if no outside forces were involved, could you see these two people together? The administer keeps a record of the number of yes and the number of no couplings. The participant than answers if she would hook up with #9 and whether she would date #10.

The administers than tallies the number of yes answers. There's some discrepancy as to the next part, but the administer either counts down the list of opposite sex people by the number of yes answers to find the soulmate and/or the number appearing next to the opposite sex person re: the number of yeses.

So here's an example of how the game would look:

So in this (rigged) game, my Soulmate would be the Producer.

The reason I bring this game up is because it is an interesting example of how one simple partnership has the ability to affect who someone ends up with... say, I'd said above that I could still see myself dating Jerk. I would have been perfectly suited for either BG or Southern Beau. So, basically, if I wasn't quite over my ex, the ramifications could be seen in this game.

I got to thinking about this last night... how the possibility that there is no path could mean the potential for many different suitors. Like, what if I'd never started smoking in high school and instead developed a passion for McDonald's. What if I'd been overweight growing up and concentrated more on academics than clothing and parties? Where might I have ended up? WHO might I have ended up with? I know the exact moment I started smoking... at the beach at 16 with Darryl, Kevin, and Stephanie. The three of them were smoking. I took a cigarette, as I always did to fit in. Kevin pointed out that I wasn't inhaling. I wasn't, but I did. And I got a buzz from the cigarette. Later that night in Stephanie's car, I took another cigarette and got another buzz. A month later, I was buying my own packs of cigarettes... smoking with Darryl as we drove down the street listening to LL Cool J sing the remix of Loungin'.

At 16, I was 5 foot 7 and wore a size 4. At 17, I was 5 foot 7 and wore a size 0. Because of that, I started loving the way clothes looked on me. I took to sewing my own dresses and creating fashion drawings in AP Art instead of still lives. What if I'd never started smoking? Who might I have ended up with?

Just thinking about all of that today.