Crazy Bingo People
Was another tough week...
...lot of hours, cold, tired, aggravated.
“We gotta’ do something other than work and sit in the house,” Kathy said. “Let’s go to lunch and then to bingo.”
“Ugh,” I said.
But it became the plan.
We hustled through the line and I just kept handing over money. I had a stack of cards to play, and we headed through a packed room.
Everyone dressed in relaxed clothing...
...tee-shirts and sweat pants.
A portly woman was shoveling in about a gallon of beef soup. She was alternating spoonfuls with a bunch of pull tabs. She was throwing the losers into a bag by her chair.
We arrived at our seats and Kathy went off to the rest room. I was positioned next to a woman who had at least 10 cards for each game in front of her (I had three of each).
This woman was frantically ripping off strips of Scotch tape and securing all of them together so she could mark them quickly, I guess.
She had a bag of cheese popcorn, a cup of coffee, a liter of Diet Pepsi, and a bag of hard candy. She also had two packs of cigarettes.
I couldn’t stop looking at the woman. She was taping those cards as if it were her job. She never once looked up, and there was a frenzied look in her eyes. Finally, she caught me looking.
“You got a lot going on,” I said.
“Bingo is serious business,” she said.
“How do you watch all those?” I asked.
“This is nothing,” she answered. “I’d buy more if I had more money.”
She won a cover all for $400.
Barely looked up when they paid her.
Then they drew the winning ticket for the 50/50 raffle.
She won that too...
...came prancing back into the room and asked if anyone wanted to touch the cash.
I declined.
Probably should have...
...I never got close to winning.
Yet, I kept looking around.
During the breaks they were scratching lottery tickets, playing cards and yanking at those pull tabs.
They were eating donuts, pizza, big bowls of soup, popcorn and chips. They were drinking gallons of pop and coffee and when the poor caller made a mistake and called the same number twice in a row about 40 people called him a f****ng idiot.
“I hate bingo players,” I said on the way out.
“There are some weirdos,” Kathy said.
“You’re one of them.”
That got me a soft cuff to the back.
“It’s a better game when you win,” she said.
I think I’ll go back to napping from 1-3 next Saturday.
Bingo is weird.
...lot of hours, cold, tired, aggravated.
“We gotta’ do something other than work and sit in the house,” Kathy said. “Let’s go to lunch and then to bingo.”
“Ugh,” I said.
But it became the plan.
We hustled through the line and I just kept handing over money. I had a stack of cards to play, and we headed through a packed room.
Everyone dressed in relaxed clothing...
...tee-shirts and sweat pants.
A portly woman was shoveling in about a gallon of beef soup. She was alternating spoonfuls with a bunch of pull tabs. She was throwing the losers into a bag by her chair.
We arrived at our seats and Kathy went off to the rest room. I was positioned next to a woman who had at least 10 cards for each game in front of her (I had three of each).
This woman was frantically ripping off strips of Scotch tape and securing all of them together so she could mark them quickly, I guess.
She had a bag of cheese popcorn, a cup of coffee, a liter of Diet Pepsi, and a bag of hard candy. She also had two packs of cigarettes.
I couldn’t stop looking at the woman. She was taping those cards as if it were her job. She never once looked up, and there was a frenzied look in her eyes. Finally, she caught me looking.
“You got a lot going on,” I said.
“Bingo is serious business,” she said.
“How do you watch all those?” I asked.
“This is nothing,” she answered. “I’d buy more if I had more money.”
She won a cover all for $400.
Barely looked up when they paid her.
Then they drew the winning ticket for the 50/50 raffle.
She won that too...
...came prancing back into the room and asked if anyone wanted to touch the cash.
I declined.
Probably should have...
...I never got close to winning.
Yet, I kept looking around.
During the breaks they were scratching lottery tickets, playing cards and yanking at those pull tabs.
They were eating donuts, pizza, big bowls of soup, popcorn and chips. They were drinking gallons of pop and coffee and when the poor caller made a mistake and called the same number twice in a row about 40 people called him a f****ng idiot.
“I hate bingo players,” I said on the way out.
“There are some weirdos,” Kathy said.
“You’re one of them.”
That got me a soft cuff to the back.
“It’s a better game when you win,” she said.
I think I’ll go back to napping from 1-3 next Saturday.
Bingo is weird.
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