naked notes

These days being broke means giving up the late nights and the heavy drinking that come with the New York nightlife. For the average New Yorker, say me for example, a 33-year old graduate student working two jobs to stay afloat, the prospect of no social life is depressing. Dealing with poverty is isolating enough. Add to that the reality that a limited budget limits the way I can socialize and what you’re looking at is a lonely girl watching hulu on a Saturday night. (No disrespect hulu. I love you.)

Just as I was losing hope of ever seeing my friends again, I got caught up in the rebirth of something once reserved for the seemingly wholesome and nerdy: Family Game Night. Some of you already know what I’m talking about. You’re Mormon, or you were in Model UN as a kid. For the rest of you, let me break it down: Across the city (and maybe even America) people too broke to go out are gathering in cramped living rooms to drink cheap beer and play games that go by names like Scrabble, Anagrams, Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary and the ultimate in game night fun: Rock Band (shout out to Beatles edition). Who knew you could find yourself up at 4am, lips pursed and eyes bloodshot from concentration, looking to beat your opponent with a triple word score, or a hotel on Park Place. It wasn’t something I was expecting to be fun. For one thing, I didn’t grow up playing board games. For another, games that test the agility of my mind tend to make me feel inferior. But competition, be it for words, points, fake property or the perfect guitar score, is a powerful thing. It can push even the shyest non-competitor into the heat of battle—and this bitch was on fire.

So next time you think you’re too broke to have any fun, remember that staying in is the new going out. You don’t need cash. Just log off the hulu and invite those long lost friends over to play.

*And remember, now that you’re broke, you’re no longer above drinking Coors.

Category: NY Finds

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