Generation Xers go for old-time games

KNIGHT RIDDER
If you want to impress friends with how totally cool you are, invite them over for an evening of canasta.
Canasta? The game of the old folks? What's next? Dominos? Cribbage?
Well, yes.
The Wall Street Journal says Gen-Xers are taking breaks from club-hopping and rock shows to settle in to play old-fashioned games. Thirty-somethings are pulling out backgammon boards and buying mahjong tiles. Suburban moms have been playing bunco for quite a while.
Canasta and backgammon matches are easily available online. And bars are getting in on the party, making board games available and hosting bingo nights. It's such a hoopla that some patrons are complaining they just want to drink in peace.
What's going on?
Part of the blame goes to the ongoing retro rage.
Pogo sticks and Hula-Hoops returned not long ago. People are eating meat loaf and mashed potatoes. And cocktail shakers and '40s furniture are selling next to Game Boxes ($195) at Restoration Hardware (www.restorationhardware.com).
Maybe life is so overwhelming that an evening of bridge is a sweet respite.
Or perhaps this generation is growing up and settling down.