A Fight Breaks Out...

at the bridge table. I've mentioned before that I play duplicate bridge with a bunch of---well, there's only one way to put this---a bunch of old ladies. I have a lot of fun with them and they seem to appreciate my sense of humor. 

Today, it was the last hand of the last round of the day. My partner and one of the opponents were discussing the previous hand. Now, considering it was the last round of the day, the 20 minute time limit per round of 4 hands doesn't usually apply. It doesn't really matter if you take longer to finish as the director is inputting the scores in to the computer. 

This particular couple have been partners on and off probably for 50 years. They are both contentious and can be uncomfortable to play with. Today was no exception. As I said, my partner was having a conversation with one---lets call her Janie---when the other---we'll call her Ella, says, "we need to move on---we have one more hand." The other one says, "well, calm down, it's the last hand, we'll get to it." To which Ella says, "you know I want to go shopping." It went back and forth. Janie says, "I can't believe you're being so hateful when I've sold dozens of your yeast rolls for you today." Ella says, "I don't need your help!" Janie says, "just leave then." Ella slaps down her cards, "well, I will."

This is where I jump in---always the peacemaker. "Girls, girls, (the old ladies love it when I refer to them as girls)---you have been friends for a very long time, just stop this." Ella jumps up and says, "we were NEVER friends." My partner and I just looked at each other. We finished out the hand while they slammed down their cards and huffed and puffed. 

I decided to bee line it out of there when the round was over. On my way out the door, Ella caught me and said, "I don't need her to sell my rolls. I have dozens of orders without her." 

I got away as quickly as I could. I'd say this was definitely a partnership "fail." I'm pretty sure they won't be playing together any more and their semi-quasi friendship is over. It's really not all that unusual, but the fireworks don't usually fly at the bridge table. All of a sudden, you'll notice that a couple that always played together no longer are. 

If you have a temper, or are a sore loser, bridge is not for you. My partner and I get along just fine. We both make plenty of mistakes. We like to jokingly say that we play "no fault" bridge. We've been together for just about 25 years. I can't recall a single time that we've gotten mad at each other over a hand or how we played it. That's good. I don't need that kind of aggravation or stress. For crying out loud, it's just a game!! Plus it seems to me that at that age, you really can't afford to lose the few friends you have left.