Dot. Crak. Bam!
That looks like a series of comic book sound effects, but it’s actually the three suits in one of the trendiest games out there these days — a game that resembles Yahtzee, rummy, dominoes or chess, depending on who you ask.
It’s a game that’s knocked bunco (which was mostly forgotten back in 2010 anyway) off the map. They say it’s the new bridge. It has the popularity of pickleball with more intellectual stimulation and far less injuries.
It’s mahjong, and it’s taking over Chattanooga, one tile at a time.
It used to be that people associated mahjong primarily with throngs of little old ladies in South Florida poring over mounds of tiles in the fluorescent-lit game room of some community center. Others might remember the unforgettable mahjong scene in the film “Crazy Rich Asians” and not give it a thought beyond that.