Coffee Helps

Slightly overwhelmed by the whole packing process, I was delighted to receive a text from Kate asking me to be part of a table quiz team tonight. As I think I’ve mentioned, I like quizzes. Joyfully, I set off to collect Russ, who shares my determination to win at Absolutely Everything.

“Right,” he said seriously as he got into the car, “I don’t think many teams have entered, and of the ones I’ve seen, I shouldn’t think there’ll be much of a threat. Plus I think Max is coming, so we have the advantage of having the most competitive man in the world on our team.” I nodded knowingly, and then we glanced at each other in a shared acknowledgement of hypocrisy.

On arrival, we settled ourselves at our table and noted with some consternation that “not many teams” may have been underestimating it somewhat. “It’s OK,” said Russ, checking out the competition, “I really think we’ve got a winning combination here.” As the rest of our team had yet to arrive, I took this as a very positive sign. “Aww!” he added sadly, “they’ve got their Wifi turned off!”. I glared sharply at him. “Russ!” I exclaimed sternly. “We do not cheat. Cheating takes away from the victory. And anyway, we don’t need to cheat, because we are going to win hands-down.”

The quiz went extremely well, albeit with a minor panic at one of the general knowledge questions. “Who,” asked Quiz Man, “manufactures the ippid?” Great confusion followed, nobody having heard of such a thing as an ippid, until Russ had a sudden brainwave and set something in the middle of the table, pointing at the inscription on the back. “iPod”, it said. The room continued to buzz panickily for a while, until someone yelled “iPod, you eejit!”, to much hilarity.

Even the dreaded sports round went well, for I simply had to pass the answer sheet to Max and trust he and Russ to take care of it. Which they did. We led the whole way through the quiz, but had one bad round that had the devastating effect of putting us in second place by one point, with one round to go. Everyone was glancing furtively at everyone else. Soft jeers and taunts were being exchanged across the room . One team was arguing fiercely with the Quiz Man about a half mark they had received. The tension was almost unbearable as we waited to hear the final round’s topic.

“Look, second place out of all these teams is great!” said the ever-encouraging Kate. I stared at her, with Max and Russ mirroring my incredulous expression. “No, it’s not!” I told her in astonishment. “Where’s the victory in being second?! Where’s the glory? The jubilation? The honour?!” Kate hastily retracted her statement.

“And now for the crucial last round,” said the Quiz Man dramatically, not really doing much to lessen the anxiety levels in the room, “… the Bible!”. There were groans all around us, but no one at our table spoke. Quietly, and with great joy, I set down my pen and pushed the answer sheet along the table to Kate, Teacher Of Many Bible Study Classes. She took it, grimly. The battle was already won.

Russ got to keep the trophy, as I am leaving the country and, to be perfectly honest, everyone else is too grown-up to care about fighting him for a cup won at a quiz night. We were jubilant, though, as we returned to the car with our prize.

                                                               

I always feel that an evening has been totally worthwhile when you get to pose for a celebratory photograph at the end of it.

 

Filed under: awards, friends, fun, quiz, tension