Arab Cultural Poker

The game is poker for chairs. The setting our family's house. It is a ritual that has gone on a long time in Arab culture. Here is the background: The youngest daughter of the family we live with and her husband were moving to Europe for a couple of years. So last night before they went to the airport the entire family came to the house for tea and coffee and one last goodbye. There were so many people there that there wasn't enough chairs for everyone to have a seat. This isn't a big problem because usually the kids are off running around and everybody is up and down from the kitchen or bathroom or outside to get something. The rule in my house growing up was simple. If you got up, you lost your seat.

Here it is like poker. Picture everyone in the family with cards. Mama, it being her house and being the oldest usually has the upper hand. She would be a Staight Flush. If she walks into the room she pretty much beats out whoever and they give up their seat. She doesn't have to ask, everybody knows who has the better hand so they just get up, but Mama's older sister was there and since she is older she has a better hand so she never had to get up even for Mama.

Next, I would say would be the men. They all have Flushs or Straights depending on age. They always get the seat from the women, except from Mama or her sister. If Mama's eldest son walks in the room the younger sons or the younger daughters husbands always give up the chair unless their is a women or kid in a chair, then the women or kid gives up theirs. So if Mama's middle son/duaghter's husband gets up to go outside for a minute and his oldest son jumps in the chair when he comes back his son gives up the chair. But if it was Mama who took his chair and not a younger then he is out of luck on that chair and someone holding a lower hand gets up.

Myself being the foriegner and always, no matter what, being an "outsider" I am always the guest of honor. So I have always got the Royal Flush. When I walk in everybody offers me their chair. So once I got in the room I get to stay in the same chair. Of course I try to play by the rules too. When Mama or a man older than me walks in I stand up and offer my chair, but they always "see my hand" and accept another chair. So I stay in the same chair all night.

My neighbors all night kept changing. Well on my left side they did. On my right was Mama's oldest sister. She and I stayed in the same chairs all night. I started off with the oldest daughters husband next to me, then he got up and his wife took his chair. Well the chair next to her on the other side came open so her oldest daughter took it, so when "BaBa" came back who got up? The daughter not his wife. Why? Because kids are holding hands like a pair of 6's. The pair gets better as you get older, but you never get anything better than a pair of Ace's unless you get married then your "status" is better and you get dealt a better hand in the Arab Cultural Poker Game.

So I sat there all night and watched people get up and down and down and up and youngers giving way to elders and kids hoping up in chairs thinking they finally were a Full House but really realized they had overbet when someone new came into the room.