The Law & Order Game Sitting in the airport waiting for my delayed flight to Kentucky for L.'s wedding, I made up a new game. It is called The Law & Order Game.

To play The Law & Order Game, you look at the people passing by, and decide which type of Law & Order character they most fit. The categories are:

-Defendant
-Friend/Relative of the Victim
-Friend/Relative of the Defendant
-Witness (this includes anyone interviewed during the investigation, although A. suggested the sub-category of Expert Witness)
-Wrongfully Accused, also known as The Red Herring*

The Law & Order Game is intense in an airport, with the flow of people creating a sort of ongoing Lightning Round. I entertained myself with this for some time, and played throughout the weekend whenever there was a lull in the action. I also got several other members of the wedding party in on the game. Mostly we agreed upon the categorizations, and quickly realized that when we were stumped, we had to tag someone as Defense Counsel, an admission of defeat.

The best (or worst) moment came when I was by myself, passing the time while eating breakfast in the hotel atrium. A boy walked by--about 10 years old, skinny with hiked-up jeans, a plaid shirt buttoned up to the collar and tucked into the jeans, and big wire-frame glasses--and I immediately thought "Defendant." My next feeling was guilt, followed by regret that no other players were there to verify my assessment.

*The Red Herring label could also be applied to another L&O favorite: the guilty party who is not revealed as guilty until the last 5 minutes of the program (frequently the wife of the defendant). This advanced category is not recommended for casual viewers.

McCoy sizes people up all the time.

  ¶ 7:24 PM