Monopolizing the Game

N has been obsessed with the game of Monopoly lately. He wants to play it 24/7 (when he's not playing Angry Birds, that is).  He's always trying to enlist family members to play with him. Unfortunately Monopoly does not hold the level of sway over the rest of the family that it does over N, so he is generally at a loss for fellow players. That is scarcely an obstacle. He may not be able to secure any parents or siblings to sit down and play the game with him, but that doesn't stop him from getting their permission to play the game in their behalf. So N will set up the game, deal out the money, and lay out the player tokens for Mommy or L or me without any particular need to have any of us at all involved, or even in the house. He will then roll the dice, take the move and make all the monopolistic financial decisions required of the game on our behalf. He is very conscientious, however, to give the full play by play of the game to anyone who might be virtually playing so they we know exactly where we landed, exactly how much rent we paid, and exactly which property (that N bought for us on a previous turn) that we have now mortgaged. The accounting is precise and detailed.

N:  Mommy, you landed on Park Place.  It had a house on it.  I've mortgaged your Railroad
Mommy:  Uh-huh.

N:  Daddy, bad news!  You landed on Chance and you lost the beauty contest.
Daddy:  Uh-huh.

N:  L!  Do you want to buy Baltic Ave.?
L:  <crickets>
N:  OK.  I'll buy it for you.

 

I have to admit I haven't paid enough attention to my farings in these games of proxy to know whether I consistently do well, or whether N wracks up the dough an inordinate amount of the time, but I do sense that something important is happening here and that I should probably take action. At a minimum I should check to see if there are any intern positions available at Bain Capital.