When I was growing up I used to be really active in my local church youth group.

The one at our church was mostly run by guys and girls in their early 20s

and placed more of an emphasis on bonding and having fun than anything else.

Sure, there was still talk of scripture and a focus on God, but you can only retain a teenager's

attention for so long with that kind of talk.

The youth group put on all kinds of events like pulling all nighters at the church, attending

concerts, geo-cashing, among countless others, and was far and away a better option than the regular church

service, at least for me.

One event, which eventually became reoccurring due to its popularity was something we called the trade game.

The youth group would divide up into teams of five or six kids and one counselor.

Each team would be given a single number two pencil and dispatched into the local

neighborhood. The object of the game was simple. Try and acquire the coolest

item possible using only the pencil as trade collateral.

Each team would go door to door to attempt and trade the pencil for an item of equal or greater value with a homeowner.

Rinse and repeat for the allotted one hour time frame.

It was a simple premise, and on the surface, you may not expect it to yield anything too valuable, but you'd be wrong.

Previous escapades of this game had yielded things like couches, go-karts, a slushy machine,

a giant gumble dispenser, a 54-inch box television among many others.

Most infamously was the occasion where a guy was on the brink of trading one team his

Hummer H2 for a DVD player.

Clearly the guy was loaded, but unfortunately for the team,

the man's wife stepped in and shut down the transaction.

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