Guess who is the who

If there is one game that reminds me of childhood, it’s “Guess Who.” My sister Shannon and I would have tournament after tournament sitting Indian style on our living room floor, boning up our skills by keen observations of the characters projected on the thin plastic game board.

For those not privy to Guess Who, the game is played between two players as they deduce which character card the opposing player has through process of elimination by asking identifying yes or no questions.

Popular questions include “Is your person wearing a hat?” “Do spectacles adorn their face?” “Are you a woman?” “Does your person have a mustache?” All questions that if answered “yes” gave you a clear advantage.

More distinguishing questions include “Does your person look like a child molester who would most likely yield a rebel flag?” (Looking at you Charles). “Is your person the only black woman on the board?” (That’s you Ann, although I’m honestly not convinced you are actually black. Perhaps a mixed race of sorts). “Is your character a reincarnate of Opie all grown-up?” (Frans) or “Does your person look like a sad Paul Benedict?” (Robert).

And woe is you if you accidentally choose Claire – a women no less, with a hat AND glasses. Yep. You are pretty much screwed.

Recently, as Jeremy and I were trolling through a German thrift store, we came across a game titled “Who is Who?” - a title that makes no sense within the German language. The game, of course, is a German version of Guess Who with slightly different characters.

Bernard is replaced by a younger, more hip Andreas. Regular Joe becomes the everyday Gerhardt and the dreaded Claire becomes Karla – with a K.

While the style changes slightly, the strategy for this game, however, remains the same. For profiling is and will forever be, a universal sport. Guess who Shannon!