I never really thought of myself as "competitive". I mean, in my day to day life I don't really excel to be "better" than anyone else at anything, at least consciously. I do hate to be wrong... but I don't see that as competitive, I just see it as an outward reflection of my inner know-it-all.
However. Put a board game in front of me and suddenly the gloves are off and we need to put our good relationship on hold for the duration of the game. Please don't ask me to help you in any way. Don't think that I will give you the smallest hint and please think twice when you assume I am above cheating. Because I'm not. I view the winning of a board game as a sort of "by any means possible" kind of situation.
Anyways, on Saturday night after having a birthday celebration for Pat (with a Thanksgiving dinner) we decided to play Trivial Pursuit. We ended up with a "team" version of the board game, which we've never played before but I assumed it would be the same as the classic version.
The teams were Jon and I against his mom and brother in law (Pat and Phil). I thought our chances were pretty good - I wouldn't have necessarily bet the farm, but I wasn't afraid either.
They took an early lead. With the exception of a few moments of overly excited chest bumps and high fives, Jon and I spent most of the game catching up. And I think he hates to lose as much as I do, so the pressure was on. A few new categories came up and I swore Pat and Phil would choose the "knitting" subject as Pat is a master knitter, but they didn't and I felt like it was really our chance to get back on top.
The first question on the card was a cinch, something about "unit of measurement for knitting needles" - and actually the second question was super easy too. Anyone that has looked at Chapter One, Page One of any knitting tutorial would know it. It was "what two simple stitches can be used to create hundreds of other stitches?"
"Knit and Purl" I said confidently.
And Jon said "No, it's knit stitch!"
"But that just sounds like one stitch. A "stitch" is not a kind of stitch. I am 100% sure that it is Knit and Purl".
"Dude Allie. It's Knit STITCH."
"KNIT PURL. I AM TELLING YOU IT'S KNIT. FUCKING. PURL."
"Phil" Jon says, taking control of the situation, "Knit. Stitch. Final answer"
"That's incorrect, the answer was Knit Purl." Phil says - obviously gloating.
Now granted, Jon DID learn the basics of knitting, just because he likes to know how to do "stuff", but I was fairly certain that my knitting knowledge exceeded his, and I was POSITIVE my answer was correct. I just couldn't wrap my brain around why on Earth he would be so insistent on something so obviously up my alley.
Anyways, we lost in the end. It just wasn't our night, but also, I think it is plain good manners to let someone win on their birthday.
And finally we said Goodnight....But I couldn't get over the "knit purl" moment. So after everyone went to bed, I asked Jon why in the hell he would even think to disagree with me on something like that and so vehemently. And he said "Dude. When no one was looking I peeked at that card and I swear to god I saw 'Knit Stitch' and there was no way to tell you because I thought they would hear."
And friend, this unexpected answer in my mind was the ONLY excuse I would have accepted. Because in all honesty, I COMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD.
It once again proved that no matter what, we seem to be a good match.
