Today I was telling someone about this stupid childish game I've been known to play.

I'll call The Reverse Staring Contest.

The goal is to be the last one to look. To be the last one to care. The last one to acknowledge the other. If you can hold out the longest, then you win.

What do you win?

Not much. Maybe a little satisfaction. Maybe a little information - perhaps knowledge that the other person has less willpower than you do, or cares more than you do.

Maybe you learn those things, but maybe the other person doesn't even know the game is afoot. Maybe you're just being a jackass because it's your basic nature to be one.

I just finished a round of this game, a round in which I won. I'm pretty sure the other person didn't even know we were playing, but we play this game almost every day. I lose almost every day.

But not today. Today I kept my eyes averted until the other person looked my way.

I am the winner! Yay for me!

It's a dangerous game though. Sometimes the other person gets tired of it and goes to find someone else to play with. Someone that's not a jackass.