BBc article on pub quizzes, suggesting that they are a uniquely British phenomenom. Not sure about that, but my friend Helen and I had an interesting experience when in a bar in Cape Cod.
Actually, going into a bar in Cape Cod was an interesting enough experience. We had flown from Buffalo-Niagara to Boston, hired a car and driven out to the Cape, arriving fairly well into the evening. Tired and hungry, we picked the nearest place to eat, a Friendly's, where we ordered adequate fish-and-chips, and then discovered, to our horror, that alcohol was not avaialable.
Little knowing that we were soon to establish ourselves as the greatest alcoholics on the entire Cape, possibly the whole of Massachussetts, we rushed to the bar over the road. It filled every stereotype of smalltown American bars. Sad, lonely, dorky men sitting on bar stools, nursing, almost crying into their beers, not communicating with each other.
On various screens on the wall played out various sports - baseball, American football, ice hockey. Despite at least one match having some local interest, the sound was down and no one - except us - watched. Music played, but nobody seemed to take any notice. There was no evidence of a jukebox.
We were intrigued by the man next to me and got into conversation with him. It turned out that he was playing an online nationwide pub quiz, and was in heavy competition with a guy from Texas. The next five questions were: two about London, one about Switzerland (where Helen was then resident), one about kd lang, and, unbelievably, one sort of related to audit. This guy knew none of the answers, nor did Mr Texas. But, between us, Helen and I did. Much to the delight of Mr Massachussetts. We got chatting, and it was all very pleasant and congenial, and genuine, no cheesy chat-up. He expressed surprise that we were unfamiliar with this concept of the online pub quiz, opining that it would go down well in Britain.
As it happened, a few months later I encountered the online pub golf game, operating on much the same system. But I still contend what Helen and I concluded. This quiz thing was essentially solitary, lonely; it was only by chance that this guy happened to be sitting alongside two knowledgable sociable women. Whereas, all the pub quizzes I have ever participated in have been esentially about socialising. Yes, bitter competitiveness, physical fights, falling out with close friends. But, essentially social.
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