The Bookless Club: Has a split second ever made a difference in your life?

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Even now, more than a month later, Bennett is shaken by this event. Life seems grotesquely fragile. Situational awareness can only take you so far. Be alert. The world needs more lerts.

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Jane Macdougall is a freelance writer and former National Post columnist who lives in Vancouver. She writes The Bookless Club every Saturday online and in The Vancouver Sun. For more of what Jane’s up to, check out her website, janemacdougall.com

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This week’s question for readers:

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Question: Has a split second ever made a difference in your life?

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Send your answers by email text, not an attachment, in 100 words or less, along with your full name to Jane at [email protected]. We will print some next week in this space.

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Previous question for readers:

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Question: Any game traditions in your family?

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Our family’s games of choice include Scrabble, Mexican Trains, Flip 7 and Pictionary. We play the Pictionary game using the app on Netflix. It’s where you draw the picture using your cellphone and it’s shown on your TV screen. Lots of trash talk and laughter follows each drawing.

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Fred Leibel

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• Our family of six have joyfully played games throughout our lives, a tradition started by both my husband’s and my own family as we were growing up. I was “tested” by my future in-laws by a game entitled Kings In The Corner, at the time of our first meeting. According to my husband, they wanted to know how smart I was. (I won the game, by the way)

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Today, my husband (of 55 years) and I frequently play two Scrabble games a day. With our adult children we regularly play Quiddler. Our grandsons have been introduced to Shut The Box, which involves dice and a wooden box with movable lettered tiles. This game encourages the use of math and strategy.

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Claudia Smith

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• My memories of Scrabble date back to summers at a cottage north of Toronto. In the 1950s all the aunts, uncles and cousins would converge for several weeks. The old cottage had no electricity, but it had a telephone and one cold-water tap in the kitchen sink. Some Scrabble games were played on the dock, and occasionally a few wood tiles would fall down between the cracks. Uncle Alec was usually the one to swim underneath and rescue the floating tiles.

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Some years ago, a friend introduced me to Quiddler. There is strategy needed as well as being able to form words. Like cribbage, there is the luck of the deal.

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Angus McIntyre

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• When I was still married we used to play a great board game called Rummoli. So many great memories of those evenings with friends and family. Food, drinks, and friendship. I wished those nights would never end. Sadly, those days are long gone, but the memories remain vivid in my soul.

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John Smith

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• I was born into a family that takes the card game of Spoons very seriously. From a young age, I looked forward to our fast-paced matches — a game that, on occasion, has ended with a little bloodshed thanks to fiercely competitive players armed with suspiciously long fingernails. It’s all in good fun … mostly.

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Today, three generations gather around the table to play at family get-togethers. It’s one of those traditions that brings everyone together, proving that nothing says “family bonding” quite like a friendly game where your fingers are never completely safe.

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Heather McEachern

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• Friday night is game night. Our neighbours of 52 years and ourselves have game night every Friday at 7:30 p.m. As we are all in our 80s now, it helps to keep our neurons working. When it is not game night, I’m doing puzzles like Sudoku, crosswords, or KenKen. My wife and I play cribbage, Mexican Trains and Chickenfoot. I haven’t found a good chess player for years, but maybe sometime I will get back to that.