About twenty students showed up - at least three of whom were writing about the non-event for various publications – and kicked our feet, laughing at each other, while waiting for more people to walk straight into Dillon instead of turning downstairs for the Fitness Center. After a sizeable group grew up around the folding table in the middle of the basketball court, Jessica informed us that we would each play ten games and record the game result and the other player's number on our oversized yellow index cards. A shapeless mass to the left of the table emerged as we randomly looked one another in the eye and commenced a game: "You want to call it?" "Okay, rock, paper, scissors, shoot." For nearly an hour, the participants (writers included) fought each other to the death in a game of total chance before heading home – the winner of the Swiss style tournament with an iPod nano, second place with a Princeton hoodie, and lucky raffle winners with what appeared like a dog bowl and a blanket.
"Two papers in a row - I totally fell for it!" cried a hooded competitor in the crowd. With this, I realized that someone else had my exact same strategy for playing the game. I always assume I'll win at rock paper scissors – the rock, rock strategy for some reason always baffles people. My theory is that no one expects you to pump rock a second time – and, that most people are scissors people, ready to get crushed. Guess my strategy isn't so unique though.
This is really a game of luck: do we really think our chances our better than anyone else’s? As expected, I’ve overheard many RPM players boast of their psychological prowess, as if they could read me as a "rock, rock" from the beginning. Intriguingly though, none of the 10 players I faced off with showed any such swagger: twice we both forgot the outcome of our match, and once, my diffident opponent was shocked to find he had won his very first game.
Shapeless mass breeds shapeless experience, or perhaps the other way around. Yet – and this was the really interesting thing -- everyone who showed up was really cool. Everyone was laughing, and some even brought style, rather than concentrated, cerebral stratagems, to the game. For instance, one guy shook his hand like he was about to rap instead of the orthodox fist in palm action. Who knew you could meet excellent people at a rock paper scissors tournament, and who knows why we were all there? Self-deprecating humor lingered in the air, not conceited, awkward, or plain strange vibes. Maybe we were all just normal people, drawn to the beautiful one-in-twentysomething chance of winning an ipod nano. I came to the event expecting to be annoyed with people unwilling to acquire a real skill, and left feeling that we were all just a little lost. - Laura Robertson
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