I said in yesterday’s post that there are question masters who do quizzes at the club from time to time whose quizzes we don’t like very much, but we wouldn’t think of insulting them by not going. I think that in the interests of honesty I had better admit that prior to my lost weekend, there was actually one question master whose quizzes at the club I would not attend.
This is how it worked. It wasn’t that the QM in question’s
quizzes were that bad. They really weren’t good at all, but they weren’t worse
than a few of the other semi regulars used to do. What happened was this. On
one particular evening the QM asked “Which character in Dad’s Army was played
by Ian Lavender?” Now, before I tell you what I did I ask you to bear in mind
that a) all the other teams knew the answer anyway, and b) it’s a quiz where
for most teams the emphasis is on having a bit of a laugh. So when a
particularly appropriate comment occurred to me, I decided to share it with
everyone, and so I shouted, “Don’t tell him, Pike!”
Well, be fair, if I hadn’t said it I’m sure someone else
would have- it was a comment begging to be made. Well, the question master was
not impressed. She immediately took to the mic. Fair enough, and a mild telling
off would have probably been the most appropriate reaction. No. She made some very
personal comments about me, so much so that one of the other teams even had a
go at her for it, reminding her that the purpose of the quiz was for people to
have a little fun.
Now the things is that other people have made comments I
haven’t liked when I’ve been doing the quiz. And while I think it’s okay to make
a response to an unhelpful or inappropriate comment, I would never have dreamed
of using the mic to make personal comments on the way that this question master
did. I suppose that I could have stood up, marched to the QM’s platform and had
it out with her then and there. But that’s not really me. And to be honest, I
can’t guarantee that I wouldn’t have got personal too, and nobody really wanted
to see and hear that, I’m sure. So then and there I said to the rest of them team
as it was then– that’s it, I’m not coming to her quiz again. To this date, it’s
a resolution I’ve stuck to. Yeah, I know that it probably seems a bit petty. But
if I had gone to her quiz again, and she’d made another personal comment again
then I would have had an up and downer with her, and a quiz is no place for
that. It’s not as if there was ever anything particularly enjoyable about her
quizzes either. I can’t say that I
missed them at all.
One of the effects was that I did at least once turn up to
the quiz to find out that the lady in question was question master, which led
me to pass a couple of pleasantries with the team, and then exit stage left. Apparently
she noticed and asked the rest of the team why, but I think they didn’t tell
her. That was their choice, and if she asked me herself I would tell her. I’ve
seen her in the street since and said hello, and she didn’t ask then. It suits
me fine. As I said, I don’t want a scene about it – but on the other hand I
wasn’t just going to forget about it either.
So, towards the end of August last year we started going to
the quiz again, and the person in question was there. She didn’t say a word to
me, so I didn’t feel any obligation to say anything to her, and this continued
for the first four or five weeks. Then she just stopped coming. Well, that’s
her choice. It didn’t bother me if she was here, and it doesn’t bother me if
she’s not there. And if she did come back, and did act as question master, I
wouldn’t have a problem with it. However, I wouldn’t turn up for it either.
That boat has sailed, I’m afraid.
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