Thanksgiving: Time for Dysfunctional Family Bingo

The holidays.  That joyous time when we eat good (and too much) food.  Gather together.  And sometimes drive each other crazy.  On the eve of the holiday season, I've broken out my trusty-dusty game of Dysfunctional Family Bingo.  I found the "game" a couple of years ago in a magazine article by Martha Beck (Finding Your Own North Star).  She writes: ". . . gather with friends and provide each person with a [blank] bingo card . . . Each player fills in her bingo squares with dysfunctional phrases or actions that are likely to surface at her particular family party.  For example, if you dread the inevitable 'So when are you going to get married?' that question goes in one square of your bingo card.  If your brother typically shows up crocked to the gills, put "Al is drunk" in another square, and so on.  Take your finished cards to your respective family gatherings.  Whenever you observe something that appears on your bingo card, mark off that square.  The first person to get bingo must sneak off to the nearest telephone, call the other players, and announce her victory.  If no one has a full bingo, the person who has the largest number of filled-out squares wins the game."  I'm filling my card out now.  Anyone want to play with me?  (Remember: the bingo card is five columns across and five rows down.  The middle square is free!)  Let me know how it's going. Happy Thanksgiving.