THE FOOTNOTES

Moe and Nancy were very good bridge players. They were partners against Bill and me. In the absence of skill, I sometimes substituted obfuscation and/or confrontation in an effort to confuse the issue. This sometimes led to some disarray. One night in a spirited contest, I raised some questions relative to the accuracy of the score which was Nancy’s province. As that dispute raged, Bill excused himself and went upstairs to tend to personal matters. Moe and I Left the building, I in a huff, before Bill came back downstairs. Bill’s reaction was memorable: “Where did everybody go?” he inquired of Nancy.

Bridge is not a friendly game. and competitive bridge, as in Duplicate Bridge is kill to win. That’s why it is not a good idea to have a spouse as a partner. You take the fight home. I will relate what is said to be a true story of bridge disagreement. Police were called to a home where a disturbance was in progress. A 140 pound man had beaten up his 200 pound partner, both wives, broken up the furniture and then fought with police. The judge hearing the case evidently was a bridge nut himself. When the defendant told the judge what had happened in the bridge game to precipitate the riot, the judge dismissed the charge saying, “They deserved it!”