Trivial Pursuit

Back in the mid 1980's, my hubby came home and called out, "Guess what, Mar? They invented a game just for you!" For years he had been teasing me about the vast amount of "garbage knowledge" I had stored in my brain, now finally I could put it to good use.

Of course, I won all the time, and it wasn't long before I had hard time finding people to play with me. We solved the problem by buying harder editions for me, while hubby and the girls got to play the same questions over and over.

Finally one day, it happened. She beat me. My oldest daughter was elated and doing a happy dance around the table. She had beaten the master. What a sense of accomplishment. And how it changed her. With her new found confidence, my shy little intovert began to speak up more in school.

In gym class when it rained, the gym teacher would break out the trivial pursuit questions. Karen was so good that she was always the first choice when choosing sides. Imagine getting picked first...in gym class! Eventually, the teacher saw that whatever team she was on would win...so in fairness, he asked her be "Art Fleming." For those of you too young to remember, Art Fleming was Alex Trebeck before Alex Trebeck was Alex Trebeck.

Then later in high school, we went to parent-teacher conferences. Yes, I know she is very bright. Yes, I know she needs to speak up in class. Yes, I know she is well behaved. Then the last teacher...he smiles this broad smile and says all the same things we have heard many times over and over, but then adds, I have to tell you a funny story.

One day, in a fit of frustration, with how little knowledge his class had of American history, this teacher decided to make a bet with the class. "I think that almost all of you could tell me the name of the space shuttle that blew up, but I'll bet you pizza for the entire class if just one of you could tell me the name of the plane that carried the first atomic bomb."

(I couldn't help but grin.)

Then he says, Karen, who was always quiet, well behaved, and rarely said boo...jumped up from her seat, stood on her chair, pumped both fists in the air...and shouted...."THE ENOLA GAY!!"

"I wasn't so surprised that she knew the answer, it was the excited emotional way that she expressed it."

I had to giggle. How good she must have felt to know she had the right answer.

When we got home, I asked her about the incident and why she had gotten so excited.

Her answer was simple...."Mom," she explained, "it was for pizza!"

My daughter Karen will be getting her bachelor's degree in a couple of weeks. I always knew she would eventually. She just had to have the right motivation. Maybe I should have bet her pizza!