A THANKSGIVING WISH BONE GAME, ARMENIAN STYLE

A THANKSGIVING WISH BONE GAME, ARMENIAN STYLE  
As recalled by visiting blogger Kenar Charkoudian

Whenever the family had a turkey for dinner, especially at Thanksgiving, or perhaps chicken on Sunday in the days of “Chicken in Every Pot,” the children would vie for the wishbone.  A lucky recipient of the wishbone would easily find a partner with whom to play the game of Yades. 
In this game the two participants would pull on the wishbone until it broke in two.  The player who got the longer end of the wishbone, the winner, would call out, "Yades."   The person who got the short end of the wishbone would have to fulfill an obligation the two had agreed upon prior to the pulling.  The obligation might be performing some kind of service for the other such as drying the dishes in his/her place for a week, or giving him/her 5 of your favorite bird cards, or another similar obligation.   This obligation could be avoided if the loser says, “Mitkes eh!”  (i.e. “I remember,”  “It’s still on my mind,”) any and every time the winner hands him/her something.  If s/he takes the handed object before saying "Mitkes eh", s/he loses the game and the obligation must be fulfilled.  On the day the game starts, the winner will often look for objects to casually hand the loser, but the loser is still wise that first day. 
Eventually both players forget about the game and go about their regular day without consequence.  However, sometimes, out of the blue, days or weeks after the game began, the winner remembers the deal, and hands the loser an object.  Receiving no proper response, she calls out Yades! and the game’s obligation has to be fulfilled.