Unity

When my son the Coast Guard officer and I both lived in a small town in Oregon a few years ago, we made a good 2-person trivia team. Sometimes we won, but often we got stymied by one other team: his boss and a couple of crewmembers throwing shade at us from a few tables away. Still, we had a pleasant destination every week, working as a well-organized team, unity above all. So when he visited me last fall, we dropped in a bit early for Trivia Night at a local restaurant. We were all by ourselves on a sunny afternoon— congratulating each other that we’d scored a window seat, as the place often filled up (this was back in the era of packed indoor restaurants). We were digging into our pub food when we looked around and wondered why we were still by ourselves; nobody else had arrived. The chalkboard sign outside announced Trivia Night in florid letters. The chalkboard menu inside: the same. The waitress when quizzed about this anomaly said actually, Trivia Night wasn’t happening that particular evening. After going through a few stages of grief (namely anger and depression) my son and I decided to hold a trivia night tournament ourselves right there and then, but to still play as a team. Name the states in ABC order. Now faster. Now again, with their capitals. Now say what we recalled from the day: breakfast items, crossword clues, flora and fauna, exact movie quotes. We were a team, the winners, unstoppable.