Similar to Euchre...

I survived.

They say that Euchre is a hard game to learn, and the general they usually proves right. I learned how to play, but only after several attempts by my father, brother, uncles, and cousins all yelling at me, "Why'd you play that card?!?" It took a while, but I am capable of playing on my own, thank you. (Though my strategy on what card to play when, still provokes the occasional previously quoted statement by my partner, aka my brother).

Enter tonight's Dungeons & Dragons experience.

I had a fun time hanging out with Pizza Boy and my new found friends. They did fit my fears of being surrounded by geekdom, however give geekdom credit. I had a good time laughing about "Glory Days", shrimp & fish milkshakes that are offensive to God, Leviticus being the best book in the Bible and other random comments I found amusing.

However the game itself I found to be lacking, mostly due to the fact that I have no idea how to play. I really have no desire to learn. But this is an excuse you say, a cop-out. Perhaps. But hear my plea. I do not care to be in a game that goes on and on and on (think Monopoly, and I never win at that game). Winning. I like to win. One could argue that players of D&D are virtually guaranteed to win (aka not get killed off), since the DM wants to keep the game going through continuous levels of play. Ok. But who is the winner? When do I get to kick the crap out of everyone and WIN??! Play can also be somewhat slow. Not that slow is always bad, but when it takes 45 plus minutes to kill off one "bad guy," this can be tedious. I want results and I want it now. (Welcome to the me-generation, driven by instant gratitfication. I love American society).
Another complaint of mine is all the rules to remember. Now if I were the type that were more enthusiastic about D&D, I would take the time to attempt to get the bascis down. But I just don't care.

Here enters the quandry I often face in my life (I believe because I am lazy and scared of taking credit for failure). I would rather someone explain it to me than for me to use my brain and figure it out. If someone explains it to me then I have saved time & brain power, conserving both for the future. However, the flaw with that thinking is that I am not learning how to do things for myself, I am constantly depending on someone else.

Ultimately, I swear that I want to be independent, I want to do it on my own. But in the back of my mind I think, if I just ask someone it will probably go a lot easier. I have been taught & believe that the only dumb question is the one not asked.

At what point does asking impede my ability to figure it out on my own?