So I’m playing monopoly with my son and he gets the card “bank error in your favor”
He asks me what that means and I tell him that the bank makes a mistake and puts extra money in your account so you get $15.
Then he says" Isn’t that stealing?" and I say “hold on, daddy’s got to poop” and I spend the next 15 minutes wondering whether we are raising a generation of children in a fantasy world that will leave them innocent and ethical but naïve.
My wife yells through the bathroom door to get off the pot because she is leaving to meet up withy some friends. I wasn’t actually pooping so I just get up, wash my hands and go downstairs.
My son says “dad, I think we should start off father son night with an ice cream cone” So I scoop some ice cream into a cone and give it to him relieved that we don’t have to talk about the ethics of stealing money from large faceless banks.
Then my wife walks in because she forgot something and says “what are you doing I just gave him an ice cream cone 5 minutes ago because he was sad that I was leaving and he was going to miss me!”
Then my son runs into the bathroom with the ice cream cone and locks the door. I smile to myself and think “He’s gonna be alright”
How old is your son? At least 8, if you’re playing Monopoly?
I’d try to explain that a) there’s a difference between a game and real life
b) in real life, if the bank makes an error, you are at least ethically, but (depending on jurisdiction) also legally obligated to tell them.
c) in this game however, it’s just a way of getting Money, because it would be boring if all Cards said “you won the lottery” over and over.
And then get Settlers of Catan for a game with a much better Balance of gameplay, real trading, and much less monotony.
And look up the real history of Monopoly on the Internet (I would Need some time to find the articles again) - it was developed by a quaker woman to Show how bad monopolies are, esp. regarding high rent and People with low wages. The Story Parker Brothers tells has been proven in court to be a lie (when a Professor developed Anti-Monopoly and was sued by Parker Bros. - another good example of real life).
I always thought the bank had made some sort of mistake and underpaid you in the past. Then, when the bank discovered the error, it realized it owed you $200 more dollars.
I never thought it was something like “Withdrew $100 from an ATM, but the bank actually gave you $300”
When I was at that age, I had a few stock investments, which meant that every few months, I would get some dividend checks totalling as much as $20 sometimes.
One time, IO took my checks in to get them cashed, and when I got home, I recounted, and thought something was wrong, but as it was 5 checks I cashed, and it was the bank, I assumed it was all good.
Next day the bank calls, wanting their $1.25 back. And man, they were persistent about that $1.25. As I didn’t have a car, I had to get a parent to drive me (and it was not all that close by) and they were not happy that it would be as much as 3 days before they got their $1.25 back.
Whenever I got that monopoly card, I was always expecting the bank to call to get it’s money back from me.
The last time I played Monopoly with my son and husband I got into a situation where neither one of them could make a monopoly unless I sold them a property.
Needless to say, I am a greedy capitalist who loves them very much and checkmated them.
But then it wouldn’t be an error in your favor. It wouldn’t be an error at all. It would be the correcting of an earlier error that had gone against you.
No, that’s an error against you that’s been corrected.
An error in your favor is literally an error that you gain from.
One way to explain it as not stealing is that after a while you get to keep money the bank mistakenly gave you because it’s a penalty against the bank. They’re supposed to be very careful with money, so when they mess up, it’s their fault.
Or you could tell him that it is basically stealing, and you should always try to return money that’s not rightfully yours. Kids are obviously resourceful enough to figure out the incentive to steal on their own.
Exactly. There was an error. I didn’t make the error, so the bank must have. Hence, there was a bank error. I don’t have to give the bank an additional $200, they have to give ME $200. Therefore, it is in my favor.
Thus, there was some sort of bank error, and since it was in my favor, I collect $200.
If there was an error that was corrected, and as a result of the correction, the bank gives you $200, that means that the bank had $200 of your money that it shouldn’t have. The error was in the bank’s favor. The correction simply makes you whole. It’s not in your favor.
