Cards Against Humanity

My dad texted me earlier this evening to let me know a very close friend of his had suffered a massive heart attack and passed away.
John, his name was. A sailor, a general handyman, a hale and hearty human being with an infectious laugh, packed with both knowledge and wisdom. He's been suffering excruciating back pain that I have to imagine contributed to his heart just giving out--so at least that's gone. But that was supposed to go away without taking him away with it.
John was one of those Up North People that always added something to my trips up to see my dad. But he was so much more to so many people, and why do people have to die, anyway?

We were just about to leave for a little get-together when I got that news, and it added yet another layer of emotional complexity. I was already nervous as hell. The thing was hosted by a guy named Glitch that worked at Walmart until a few months ago. A more easygoing guy would be hard to find...but Eva and I didn't know anybody else there, and that always puts me on edge.

I wish I could explain why. "What's the worst that could happen?", Eva asked me as I battled another stomach cramp, unsure if I was going to throw up, soil myself, or both. "I don't know, that's kind of the point",  I said. "Do you want to cancel?" she asked? "Hell, no!" I answered, and gathered myself together.

The get-together was to play Cards Against Humanity. This game has been around for almost five years and (of course) I only first heard of it a few months ago. I swear I exist in some alternative universe in which there is no such thing as popular culture. If you do, too...

Cards Against Humanity bills itself as "a party game for horrible people." The gameplay is dead simple: somebody reads a question with one or more blanks in it and everybody else fills in the blank(s) with responses printed on the cards in their hand. Whomever's response is the funniest, as judged by the questioner, gets a point. The whole notion of points and winning goes right out the door as everyone tries to gross each other out or drop each other's jaws with the dark humour of their response.

Did I mention this is not a game you want your kids to even imagine exists? The content goes beyond "adult" into a sick and twisted dimension packed with perverted depravity and depraved perversity. The extent to which you find this amusing will tell you how much you've been missing out not playing this game.

Glitch has the game and every damned expansion pack there ever was. So there we are, Eva and I, Glitch and his friends Brinn, Coralee, Jiminey and Ashlea, and Gaelan--five of those people I either didn't know at all or only knew by vague reputation. And....

It was a hell of a lot of fun, by which I mean we're all going to hell now. Eva and I won our fair share of rounds, but again, it wasn't as if anybody was really keeping score. Horrified laughter was the order of the evening and a good time was had by all. Including me. Really lightened my mood. Sooner or later I'm going to take to heart that there's nothing and nobody to be afraid of at these things.

Thank you, Glitch, for having us. Good to meet your gang and let's do this again sometime.