Whistful Thinking

_

If you intend to spend any time at all with the Fiddler-Komadowski-Shumilak clan, you'll have to know how to play whist. On holidays when the family gets together, everyone is invariably sitting together in groups of four, eating and playing cards.

Of course, it's not a stated requirement that you play; there are members of the family that don't. But those members tend to end up sitting around by themselves when the family gets together, because everyone else is gathered around the table playing whist. It might be wise, therefore, for you to go ahead and learn to play the game. This way, if you ever find yourself in the midst of a group of Fiddlers, or Komadowskis, or perhaps even Shumilaks, you'll know exactly what to do to avoid feeling left out.

First off, you'll have to learn the rules. The rules for bid whist are pretty close to our version, with a few slight differences -- the most important of which being that we do not name whether higher ranking cards or lower ranking cards will win the hand. If you're interested, Joe Andrews of eHow has lots of videos explaining every possible aspect of the game.

Now that you've been shown the ropes, you're ready to play. All that's left to do is to find some Komadowskis, or some Shumilaks, or perhaps some Fiddlers to play with.
_