The Pursuit of Trivia

For nearly a year in 2002-3, I attended the weekly pub quiz at the Britannia Arms in Cupertino. The Quiz Master, Steve, was a real character and took his role very seriously despite the heavy sarcasm. The difficulty level and breadth of topics made for a very challenging experience. We began as a duet, my partner and I, and our team Angkor What? finished dead last or close to it. We soon recruited a third, and began to move up in the standings. But it wasn't until my friend Nancy joined us that we really started to compete. Nancy is bright, worldly, well-educated, and a generation older than the rest of the team. We'd found our missing piece. Subsequently, our four to six person team was able to hold our own against much larger groups. When I left for India, we were at the head of the pack.

Last month a co-worker mentioned that she'd gone to a trivia night at a local bar/restaurant. It sounded suspiciously like a pub quiz, and my interest was piqued. I begged to tag along next time. Again we began with just the two of us, and over the course of the month we have built up the team. The questions are significantly easier than the Britannia Arms quiz. Two weeks ago we placed third, and won a double order of chicken wings; tonight we took second, earning us a $25 gift certificate.