Class Roster Poker

We played Class Roster Poker today at lunch. Oh, it wasn't an official game. No money changed hands. The word poker was not even spoken. But it would be a fun game, don't you think? Each semester, we could play another hand. Here's how it goes. Take your worst combination of five students on your class roster during a specific period of the day. Match them up against everybody else's worst combination. You'll know who wins, because the other players will exclaim, "OH! That beats me!" Just like today at lunch.

It started as just another lunch conversation. A student at one table shouted something unintelligible, the duty teacher shut it down, and we started talking about how you can see trouble coming when you look at a certain configuration of students. That is not saying they're bad kids, or even trouble-making kids. But one different kid thrown into a mix can change the whole chemistry of a class. They feed off each other's behavior. They egg each other on. Grudges held since kindergarten surface during junior year.

We dealt them out like casino pros. Around the table, each successive hand drawing a gasp here, a snort there. I was not the winner. For that, I thank the Gummi Mary.