The first time I was invited to go play bunco I had no clue what it was. It was before the days of Google, so I didn't have a smart phone to just type or speak the word into and get an instant definition. I wasn't even sure how to spell it since I had seen it spelled both bunco and bunko. A gal that I met in a community ed aerobics class invited me to sub in her group. I was a young wife and mother who had just moved to the area, so decided to give it a try. From what I could gather from the friends I asked, it was some type of game that old ladies played. The gal who invited me was around thirty, so I figured the old lady part wasn't a requirement. I pictured cards--maybe something like pinochle. I still am not sure what pinochle is. I did learn about bunco though. It is a pretty mindless dice game that takes no skill whatsoever. It is a game of chance played by a group of people whose main goal is to eat and socialize.
The women I met in that first group ranged in age from 28-62 and had little in common. Housewives, career women, middle class, upper class--it didn't matter. We talked, ate and learned from one another. It taught me the importance of having friendships with women in all stages of life. I was young, a bit naive and eager to listen and learn from these wonderful women. I stayed with that group for several years but added a group of my own as well made up of friends and neighbors. It was a great way to network before networking groups, chat rooms and social networking were around.
When I moved from West Linn to Oregon City, I started another group to meet women in my new neighborhood. It has been 20 years since I went to that first group, but I still play in two groups, one from West Linn that I recently reconnected with and the other here in Oregon City. Group members have come and gone, but a core group remains. They are women I trust, enjoy sharing time with and greatly admire.
Sometimes we get silly like our yearly "naughty bunco" when we eat penis pasta, decorate in phallic symbols, give off colored prizes and laugh like teenagers. This has been paired with our yearly dinner out and "naughty" shopping trip when we brave stores that we wouldn't usually be caught in. The first year that we had "naughty" bunco a few of us decided for really good prizes we needed to find a store that specialized in "naughty" things. Of course we were talking quietly about this in the corner of the break room of the elementary school where I worked. We whispered ideas and giggled like school girls. It was decided that we would go on a field trip to a store that we had noticed a few times because it was on a main street. We had no clue if it would be a good store or not, but since it was the only one we could think of we would go check it out. With a plan in place we were worried whether or not we should invite another bunco member who also worked at the school. The problem was that she is Mormon and we didn't want to offend her by asking her to accompany us to a porn shop. Since she is easy going, we decided that it wouldn't hurt to ask, the worst that could happen was that she would say no. You can't imagine how shocked and amazed we were when she told us that not only would she go, but that she knew of a much better store with a bigger selection! We loved it!! With our field trip planned the three of us headed out after school and hoped that no one we knew saw us in the parking lot. As we were walking in I had to point out to one of the gals that she was still wearing her school ID badge. I thought it would be a good idea if she took it off before we went in since we were trying to be inconspicuous and fly under the radar.
She was right, it was a big store with an interesting selection. We got sidetracked by a few things we hadn't seen before. We were back to giggling and whispering. In one section we were puzzling over a strange looking device when we were approached by the woman who was working that night. She was very happy to explain to us in great detail how the device worked. At one point she said "if your partner happens to be male", there is this option. We just nodded and listened. Later we wished we would have said that usually it was just the three of us, but sometimes we let a male join in! We went to dinner after our shopping trip and decided that it was such a fun adventure that we should make it a group trip and do it yearly. We have had many such field trips since then. The original store has since closed down, but we have found another that we like. It is bright and friendly despite the merchandise.
I have had a few friends say they would rather not come sub at bunco because it just isn't their thing. I understand and completely respect their opinion. I just know that as silly as bunco sounds it has been a great way to spend time with some awesome women who I may not have been able to spend time with otherwise. We are all busy and have lives that don't always bring us together outside of our monthly group. Of course with the invention of Facebook, we are able to keep up with one another outside the group, but that just gives us more to talk about when we touch base each month. We graze on finger food, roll the dice and chat away about anything that crosses our minds. Sometimes we call ourselves Bunco Babes, sometimes we call ourselves Bunco Bitches. When I started playing I was young, I am rapidly becoming one of those old ladies who play bunco though. Thank God it is a game old ladies play.
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