A Hardscrabble Life

Whenever I start a new game with someone on the Internet Scrabble Club, I say "hi and gl," which means "hi and good luck." It's pretty much standard practice to do so (although a lot of folks simply write "gl"...the salutation is implied, I guess); everyone types "hi gl" or "gl" or whatever into their respective message fields while they're waiting to be connected to an opponent and then, once connected, they just hit the send button real quick as they begin playing. But I never mean it. I'm always actually wishing them the worst of luck. I'm hoping that I'll get both of the blanks. I want the x, the z, the j, and a steady supply of esses. I want everybody else to keep pulling cees and vees. Fuck 'em. I don't care about those people. And I don't believe that they really care about me. It's a dance of lies.