Ran into an old gaming buddy at a thrift store today...

I was flipping through a pile of used board games at a Goodwill in St. Louis when I heard someone say "no way, that's you?" Turned around and it was this guy Dave I used to play Settlers of Catan with back in college like 8 years ago. He pointed at the copy of Brass Birmingham I was holding and said "you always did have good taste, even when nobody else would play it with you." We ended up sitting on a bench outside the store for almost an hour just talking about what games we've been into lately. He told me he got his whole family into Cascadia over the pandemic and now his kids ask to play every weekend. It was just a really nice reminder that this hobby connects people in ways you don't expect. Has anyone else run into someone from their old gaming group randomly like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

bailey.xena6d ago

Man that's such a wholesome run-in, but here's my real question: did you end up buying the Brass Birmingham or what? I feel like that's the real plot hole in this story. Last time I ran into an old gaming buddy it was at a Target and we just awkwardly nodded at each other from across the board game aisle, then he bought the last copy of Wingspan before I could get to it. Still bitter about that honestly. Sounds like you got the much better reunion.

faith_smith6d ago

I read a study once that said 1 in 3 people run into someone they know at a thrift store within five years, so this checks out. I had a similar thing happen with a guy from my old D&D group at a flea market, we just stood there comparing finds for twenty minutes. Your story about Dave and his kids getting into Cascadia is probably the best thing I've heard all week.