On Monday night, when trying to relax in a pub, I ended up in a heated debate about pub quizzes.
My point was that at the time of ordering my drink, I should have been informed that about 3 minutes into it, a distinctly irritating bartender, would take it upon himself to throw questions around the room at a volume effectively prohibiting the continuation of my conversation, and make jokes that were in no way funny, witty or clever. Add to that the irritant of everyone supposedly not taking part, in actuality taking part, I considered myself well and truly ripped off.
My friends take great pleasure in playing devil's advocate when I get rutted into a rant, and their point was that it said on the door as we walked in 'pub quiz every Monday night'. As if that makes everything ok? For a start, I don't always know for sure what day it is. And nor do they. I often walk into a pub with someone and it's busier than usual and they will say 'what day is it?'... indeed wondering if the number of people is indicative of an unnoticed chronological malfunction resulting in an unexpected landing at the weekend, rather than the more obvious conclusion that a few extra people fancied a drink in the week. So I am not alone in not being 100% sure of the precise day. So the sign serves no purpose to those not wanting to attend a quiz. Particularly as I didn't look at the door as I walked in. I looked at the door handle, and then straight at the bar. The more irate I become about these things, the funnier people find it. Apparently it doesn't bother other people. So next time I see one of them in a restaurant, I'm going to wait until their meal arrives, and as they begin their conversation, I'm going to stand at their table and sing. Loudly. About stuff no one has heard of.
Anyway, that night we moved pubs to prevent me bursting any blood vessels. But we went to pretty much the same pub in another locality. Same owner. Same wines. Same food. Same crisps. Same staff, sometimes. And I continued my rant, as I felt the overriding sound of the quiz questions had somewhat taken away from the point I was trying to make. I did finally get a small concession that my point was valid, just not that it was right.
Anyway, last night, I went back to the original pub. It's my favourite of the two at the moment, despite the quiz shenanigans. And, on every single table, there was a little piece of paper saying, quite clearly, 'quiz night every Monday'.
My belief is that the staff in the other pub heard my rant and wanted to put things right. My friend's belief is that they want to get their quiz numbers up. I will concede, grudgingly, that this time he may be right. He is more than 30 years older than me though, so he should be able to win the odd argument. And, thinking of all things wise, I found a random piece of entertainment the other day. I seem, as is so often the case, to be alone in finding it funny, but I'm perfectly content for that to be the case. Though, since I have posted it the viewings have gone up from 100 since 2008 to over 1000 in 2 days, so I believe people may be faking their disdain.
Pub Quizzes
On Monday night, when trying to relax in a pub, I ended up in a heated debate about pub quizzes.
My point was that at the time of ordering my drink, I should have been informed that about 3 minutes into it, a distinctly irritating bartender, would take it upon himself to throw questions around the room at a volume effectively prohibiting the continuation of my conversation, and make jokes that were in no way funny, witty or clever. Add to that the irritant of everyone supposedly not taking part, in actuality taking part, I considered myself well and truly ripped off.
My friends take great pleasure in playing devil's advocate when I get rutted into a rant, and their point was that it said on the door as we walked in 'pub quiz every Monday night'. As if that makes everything ok? For a start, I don't always know for sure what day it is. And nor do they. I often walk into a pub with someone and it's busier than usual and they will say 'what day is it?'... indeed wondering if the number of people is indicative of an unnoticed chronological malfunction resulting in an unexpected landing at the weekend, rather than the more obvious conclusion that a few extra people fancied a drink in the week. So I am not alone in not being 100% sure of the precise day. So the sign serves no purpose to those not wanting to attend a quiz. Particularly as I didn't look at the door as I walked in. I looked at the door handle, and then straight at the bar. The more irate I become about these things, the funnier people find it. Apparently it doesn't bother other people. So next time I see one of them in a restaurant, I'm going to wait until their meal arrives, and as they begin their conversation, I'm going to stand at their table and sing. Loudly. About stuff no one has heard of.
Anyway, that night we moved pubs to prevent me bursting any blood vessels. But we went to pretty much the same pub in another locality. Same owner. Same wines. Same food. Same crisps. Same staff, sometimes. And I continued my rant, as I felt the overriding sound of the quiz questions had somewhat taken away from the point I was trying to make. I did finally get a small concession that my point was valid, just not that it was right.
Anyway, last night, I went back to the original pub. It's my favourite of the two at the moment, despite the quiz shenanigans. And, on every single table, there was a little piece of paper saying, quite clearly, 'quiz night every Monday'.
My belief is that the staff in the other pub heard my rant and wanted to put things right. My friend's belief is that they want to get their quiz numbers up. I will concede, grudgingly, that this time he may be right. He is more than 30 years older than me though, so he should be able to win the odd argument. And, thinking of all things wise, I found a random piece of entertainment the other day. I seem, as is so often the case, to be alone in finding it funny, but I'm perfectly content for that to be the case. Though, since I have posted it the viewings have gone up from 100 since 2008 to over 1000 in 2 days, so I believe people may be faking their disdain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Kf34DFA3bs