Thursday, July 10, 2008

Punch Bug and the Eternal Card Game

Captain Pork Chops just wrote a post about her hatred for the Punch Buggy game. I second that emotion and it brought back a flood of memories from college.

In my small, nerdish clan of friends who gathered most every weekend for hours of Hearts, Spades, etc. there existed Ricky. Ricky and I were cut from the same bolt of cloth – competitive to the point of insanity, which I love more than anything in a game of cards. Ricky sits at my table of the Three-People-I-Would-Have-At-My-Eternal-Card-Game. I loved that boy. Not in a kissy way. In a total adoration way. If it had ever been in a kissy way, we would have clawed each other to death and then erupted into a fireball. *sigh*

Unfortunately for me, Ricky was also a Punch Bug freak in the car. He did not punch lightly. Ricky played Punch Bug the way he played cards which meant bruising on your upper arm and a look of total glee on his face at your utter destruction.

While driving around one, fine Southern day he spotted a VW Bug and before he could punch me I screamed out – “So help me God I’m driving and if you punch me while I’m driving I WILL kill you. You can punch me when we stop.”

We pull up to the school and everyone gathers around to watch him punch me in the upper arm. In that one shining moment, he pulls his arm back and as he brings it around, his fist glances off my shoulder landing squarely on my boob.

It’s the one and only time that boy ever apologized to me.
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(*note* That's Ricky and his girlfriend Dorothy in the pic, not me!)

34 Comments :

Anonymous said...

Wow--you looked different in college. :-)

Great story. Where's Ricky now?

Alice said...

Hardy har har if this is who I think it is. I amended my post for the benefit of others who might be mistaken. ; )

And Ricky is actually a teacher now which surprises the sh*t out of me.

moo said...

I hate the punch buggy game with the fiery hot passion of 1,000 suns.

However.

I am with you on the "eternal card game" thing ... when I play hearts or spades on the computer, I have three people I always play with, because I loved playing with them so much in real life.

♥Shally said...

Ouch!!

My brother and I are the same way--no boob punching though... :)

for a different kind of girl said...

We call it Slug Bug here, and I have informed my husband that I will divorce him and take him for his hundreds if he so much as alludes to the game to our sons, because I hope to stop the madness in this young generation!

Alice said...

Moo - Yeah..there's just something about playing with folks you jibe with.

Shally - It was soooo full-contact Punch Bug. Ugh.

FADKOG - So far, my kids are innocent of the game. I'm going to try and keep it that way.

Unknown said...

If we ever meet, just point out the offended boob and I'll kiss it and make it better.

(some suntan there, babe.)

Lost In Splendor said...

I hate that game. And those people who think they can punch you when it's your birthday, one for each year.

I barely like other people to touch me let alone punch.

Unknown said...

I don't know it takes the bravest of survival instincts and a flair for torturing to be a teacher...it sounds like he found the perfect profession.

I am a competetive card player, but a Mormon who doesn't play poker so I probably wouldn't be invited eternally :)

The boob probably cushioned the blow some I would imagine.

gadragonfly said...

If Nick is with me when I come up we are totally playing Spades. That's all we do everytime we go camping. His bidding has gotten better so I don't have to yell at him so much. :)
I bet Ricky meant to slip so he could cop a feel.

Anonymous said...

I had that problem in high school and college. My friends were a set of big husky girls, and I was this little puny thing. Slug Bug was terrifying for me.

Lucy Filet said...

Dude! We totally LOVE slug bug in my house! We don't hit each other though, we just yell as loud as we can "SLUG BUG (color)". This has been particularly dangerous though when we are in the car with Grandpa or anyone else who doesn't know the game and swerves off the road when someone in the car yells.

Alice said...

Lou - They're all yours!

Sparklie - I haven't had the punchy birthday in a long time. I must be hanging with a lamer crowd.

Alice - Believe you me, the boob didn't cushion jack crap. It hurt like a mother.

D - I'm all for some cards while you're here! And I'm entirely confident it wasn't on purpose - not his style. Is there a style for hitting boobs?

Kylie - See..there you go. The non-violent Punch Bug. But it just lacks something. Oh yeah - making the other person wince. ; )

Marie - I was always the big girl. Maybe that's why they all felt free to punch the crap out of my arm.

Pretty Unfamous said...

Hahah, that's a classic "whoops" moment if I've ever heard one!

We used to play Punch Buggy when I was little. But, it wasn't nearly as violent (not even violent at all). My mom used to have an old Beetle, so when my brother and I would see one, we'd yell "Mama's Car!" and we'd rack up points. We memorized where they were all parked in our city, and we couldn't both get points for spotting the same car. We got double points if the car was orange (because our mom's was). But the points didn't get us anything. Just bragging rights.

Kelly said...

oh that blows..in the boob? Ouch...hope you had on your iron bustier..haha

Anonymous said...

OUCH! I hate that game too. But Hearts and Spades? LOVE them.

Queen Goob said...

My son is six foot, six one and weighs between 230 and 240....punch buggy is one of his favorites and I can't break the "punch" habit. It's so bad it's extended to jeep, jeep (for ANY type of jeep) and padiddle (for cars with only one working headlight.)

He and his sister are constantly duking it out but they know if the thought of punching me even crosses their minds I will say a prayer at their funeral.

I hate that game!

Sean C said...

Yay the punch bug game! I need to bring that back. Can you remind me of the point system again? It seems to have changed each time I played.

This is going to be fun.... mwaHAHAHAHAHA

The Nemesing One said...

It must be a woman thing. I love this game, my kids (even the girls) love this game, but my wife hates it, has banned it and threatened physical harm on all of us if she finds out we've been participating. My kids laugh everytime they get me repeatedly and then I tell them "I'm going to drive by a VW dealership and beat the hell out of you."

Camille said...

Hmmm. We always called them "Slug Bugs." I guess we like to rhyme in Arizona.

Hey It's Di said...

We call it "Slug Bug" here. I have NEVER liked that game because I'm slow and end up the bruised & beaten one. I did own a VW bug though, a green one. It rocked. . well not really but I did get to cause other people harm by driving one around and watching others get punched.

I think Rick wanted to cop a feel too. Just a guy thing:)

Danielle said...

HAHAHAH!!

I laughed out loud on that one. Didn't see it coming!

So glad I'm not the only one that hates that game!!

elasticwaistbandlady said...

He could have gone into amateur boxing with a ring name of 'The Boob Puncher.'

My kids are keeping the lame Slug Bug tradition alive. It wasn't too bad until VW came out with their newer line of Bugs and we started seeing them everywhere.

elasticwaistbandlady said...

Thanks for commenting on my spawn's blog today. I love all my kids but I love Sunbum the most sometimes because she's the only one that laughs at all my crazy ideas and stories. The ONLY ONE.

Anonymous said...

These comments are a riot! It's "Slug-a-bug-you-owe-me-a-coke" around here, but I don't hear it too often, thank God.

Unknown said...

G-aahhhh! And how long did you have the knuckles-shaped bruise on your boob?

No, nevermind, none of my business. :)

Meg said...

My kids played a different version of the game. Whenever they'd see a VW beetle, they'd yell bug, bug, bug, bug, bug, until I had to look around, spot it, and tell them what color it was. Easier to talk on the cell phone while driving (and putting on makeup).

Robyn said...

My brothers and I used to beat the crap out of each other with Slug Bug. I suspect it was the one time we were allowed to get out our aggression towards each other, so we'd beg to go to the store/post office/wherever and actively search for bugs.

That girl from Shallotte said...

Ha! He touched your boobie...

Here's how nerdy my college buddies and I were: We decided we were too cool for Punchbug (Southern girl representin'!), so, as it was 1990 when we were really burning up the highways on road trips, we played a game we made up. Spot the K Car. Remember the ubiquitous Chrysler K Car?

I actually saw one on the road a while back and excitedly e-mailed Kathy and Rex. Subject line: K Car!!!

JD at I Do Things said...

OW! I hate Punch Bug. I guess I'm not very competitive.

Jeff and Charli Lee said...

About once a day my brother would haul off an slug me for no reason. Then, as I was wincing in pain, I would ask him why he did that and he would calmly explain, "Oh, didn't you see that slug bug go by?" So yeah, I hated that game too.

Mary Witzl said...

I've never even heard of this game! It must be one of those American things that hasn't yet been imported to the U.K. I'm not about to let on, either.

Soccer Mom In Heels said...

We call it slug bug here too. My sister and I do the punching thing with cattle guards~youch~

Miss Awesome said...

I used to love playing that game with baby's daddy, but only if I was the one who saw the car first of course.

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