Mah Jong Memory
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine|Issue 61

I remember mah jong through a haze of memory and my mother’s Benson & Hedges cigarette smoke.

Bonnie Adler
Mah Jong Memory

The mysterious ivory tiles, abundant in number and exotic in design took center stage on a card table in our living room, set on long, sleek wooden racks with surplus tiles stacked in rows and others spilling into the table’s center. Four ladies perched around the table, while one ethereal “floater” flitted around them, positioned behind any player she wished to observe. As the ladies played they talked and laughed, filling ashtrays with lipstick-stained cigarette butts, munching on Planter’s Peanuts and M&Ms, which were offered in candy dishes set on nearby side tables.

These ladies who visited for mah jong were not part of my mother’s usual crowd, which was made up of immigrant Polish Jews who lapsed from English to Yiddish to Polish in one sentence, who were always with their husbands. These ladies were American. They went out on this night without their men and enjoyed the company of women, risqué enough even to gamble, albeit for pennies. Politely, they said hello to me, but they really just wanted to play the game, not waste time with my sister or me. We were dismissed, unable to watch our customary shows on the living room TV, and sent to bed where we listened to the cracking of the tiles, the excited tones of the voices of the players, and the most mysterious of all, their incantations, one bam, two crack, three dot, east, west, dragon, and finally, victory, mah jong!.

The ladies were bold, going out at night and leaving their own husbands and children, crossing occidental world barriers by playing an Oriental game.

ONE BAM,TWO CRAK,MAH JONG IS BACK!

For those who have not yet become exposed to its enticing powers, mah jong (also spelled mah jongg) is a fast-moving game of skill, played by four people who compete against each other to create a very specific combination of tiles to make a “hand.”

This story is from the Issue 61 edition of Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the Issue 61 edition of Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM HAMPTONS COUNTRY CAPITALIST MAGAZINEView All
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

Colonial Day Along The Gold Coast

Do you know about colonial day?

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 61
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

Scott Swimming Pools

Scott Swimming Pools, Inc. is a luxury design-build swimming pool company celebrating its 80th year in business this year.

time-read
1 min  |
Issue 61
Megyn Kelly Settle For More
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

Megyn Kelly Settle For More

Rye’s Megyn Kelly, in the Spotlight.

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 59
Women Create Their Own Opportunities In New York's Growing Weed Industry
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

Women Create Their Own Opportunities In New York's Growing Weed Industry

On a recent Thursday evening in downtown Manhattan, nearly 50 women and a few men, ranging from millennials to baby boomers, gathered in a sleek co-working space to talk about weed.

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 59
The Perelman Performing Arts Center At The World Trade Center
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

The Perelman Performing Arts Center At The World Trade Center

IN the 1950s and ‘60s, when Lincoln Center was being built and Carnegie Hall was scheduled for demolition, few believed New York City could handle more than one performance space each for concerts, ballet or opera.

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 59
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

Saint In The City

Seeking the star man on the streets of soho.

time-read
3 mins  |
Issue 61
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

Vice President Joe Biden Redraws The Battle Lines In America's Longest War

I know of no cadre of people in the world more desperately in need of hope than the sixteen million people with cancer,” Vice President Joe Biden told the nation’s leading cancer researchers and clinicians at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago on June 6, 2016.

time-read
7 mins  |
Issue 61
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

Breaking The Fourth And Fifth Wall

Dear Evan Hansen began as a germ of an idea about the yearning for a connection with others; co-lyricist and writer Benj Pasek was considering the embellished ties his teenaged peers had to a suspected victim of suicide.

time-read
10+ mins  |
Issue 61
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

Mah Jong Memory

I remember mah jong through a haze of memory and my mother’s Benson & Hedges cigarette smoke.

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 61
We Can End America's Addiction Crisis... But Only Together
Hamptons Country Capitalist Magazine

We Can End America's Addiction Crisis... But Only Together

I HAD A HORRIBLE FEELING that late October Friday in 2012.

time-read
6 mins  |
Issue 61