Tile Slinger (Letter 7)

One player always slings her discards focefully across the table which is annoying not only to me, but other players have mentioned it to me as well. Is there any kind way to encourage her to a more gentle and gracious way of discarding? Or any official rule to share?

Tile Advocate

Dear Tile Advocate,

There is no rule about mishandling tiles, but there is a solution. The group leader or the player with the closest relationship with the mishandler should have a private chat. Please don’t mention that the other players agree because it could make them feel mobbed, which could cause them to shut down and not be open to admonishment. For now, keep it one-on-one. Begin the conversation with a positive statement, and then address the issue. For example, “I am so happy to be part of this group and consider you a friend. Because of that, I want to address something about my experience lately. I have noticed that you forcefully discard tiles, making me uncomfortable. When you handle the tiles, could you do it gently?”

The best-case scenario would be for them to apologize and change how they handle the tiles. The worst-case scenario would be that they deny mishandling tiles and continue the behavior. In this case, the issue should be addressed as a group. If the behavior does not change, it’s time for an intervention with all group members – and I would call it that too. If the behavior continues after an intervention, the mishandler should be disinvited.