OK so i've done a pretty horrible job of documenting my time in Europe. Now I'm back in America, trying to make sense of it (well not really i have a pretty good handle on what happened, but isn't that what yr supposed to say?) and also kinda, integrate myself back into the fabric of American culture. I guess one way i've found , is....through BINGO.
YES. BINGO. an unlikely candidate for bridging my experiences abroad with those in a small rural Iowan downtown. But apparently this game that seems very stodgily American is also a very European pastime as well. Especially Norway and Italy, for some reason...its seemed like i saw signs for bingo almost everywhere i went, but somehow this doesn't seem possible. The picture above is from Norway. I don't have any pictures from Italy because i forgot my camera in Berlin, but in Rome I passed several times places that looked like fancy casinos but they said
"B I N G O P A L A C E"
in huge letters above the lit up Corinthian columns and between the palm trees.
Tonight i played bingo, in public, for COLD HARD CASH, with OTHER PEOPLE, for the very first time, here in Burlington, IA. While the Steamboat Senior Center is no ornate Italian bingo palace, it is not without its own charms:
We came in an hour later than the starting time, the room was oddly quiet but filled with a palpable nervous energy. We were scared, we had no idea what was going on and how we could be a part. we were told they were playing "hard cards" and then there would be a "full sheet" round then a break at 8 pm. we decided to wait and join in after the break.
the terms being tossed around casually by the cashiers and bingo checkers (the guy who surveys the room for potential bingo-possessors...?) ... doo dads in the corners, no frees, hard cards, full sheets... around made everything seem daunting, like stepping into an SAT test half way through as a 14 year old fresh from the amazon. This was not your 1st grade level bingo, and it was very clear that we were the only ones in the room who had never stepped foot into a bingo hall before. The incomprehension was only made worse by the caller, in his late teens, who, when calling out what type of game it was, held the microphone on his teeth (which were also not exactly in the right places in his jaw or mouth).
We got through until the break, bravely marched forth and got
some cards, 2 full sheets...the ladies were kind enough to lend us daubers, chips and magnet wands to clear the hard cards. with a fist full of plain m&ms from the 25 cent candy machine, we were ready to enter into what was clearly a strange and wonderous new world.
it becomes pretty clear pretty fast that your chances of winning are slim. we start to debate about whether or not your chances of winning are increased if you buy more cards. with the hard cards, after one or two rounds, the flaws in your method of choosing cards from the chest become quite apparent (those methods being "aesthetical intution" and "whatever") as your cards in fact don't even have quite a few of the numbers called. you start to strategize about next time, and how you'll choose some cards with a good number spread amongst them (or is it better to have cards with the same numbers??), and also you should buy two more cards at least next time... well its obvious how this can become a dangerous spiral into addiction for many.
Looking around, noting the metallic daubers collections, the mini-fans, the little homemade chip holders, the glitter trolls, you can see each person brings their own collection of fetishes and accoutrements to attract luck but also make a space THEIRS. i start to arrange my cards in different patterns and use different chips to stir up the energy a little and perhaps make a new pathway for luck to breeze through my table.
its very very quiet the whole time we play, but everyone is very very focused on finding numbers. towards the end the checker guy starts to make jokes a little. he comes up and explains each game to us, which is very nice because we are clearly perplexed and add to this the stress level of the game ... everyone is quiet and its clear we are total outsiders but they are quite nice to us, the lady selling us cards tells us she hopes we will have fun and come back. quiet is the mid-western way.
the games are many: regular bingo, doo-dads in each corner, 3 on top, 3 on the bottom, heart shape, bell, etc...we blast through the hard cards and go to the final full sheet round. X's first, then the + game, then the final is a frame around the outside. By this point my brain is fried and i start to scramble numbers, making it quite challenging to find them on the sheet. Tim gets close on the last one, needing only B 10 to complete a frame. It was fun to have a real thing to root for.... the whole game i had to manufacture some joy or disappointment for each number, hoping for a fake it till you make it sort-of emotional experience.
Most games its not mentioned how much yr playing for, but probably no more than $10 (the biggest money games are getting every single square on a game filled; one was $100, another was $70). But somehow there is so much adrenalin going through my body for each game, my heart is still palpitating. The Frame round is called (no B 10), and its all done. Ladies put on their head scarves, men fold up the tables, and i look for a place to put my chair. An announcement is made that next week is a potluck and i am trying to figure out if i will be here or not. its after 10, which means some people were here for almost 4 hours, but not a lot of fuss or chit chat is made after the show. We leave exhausted and wanting to drink. but we don't, its too windy outside and we have things yet to do tonight...
www.welovefreebingo.com/Bingo-Slang.php
www.bingo-lingo.net
www.ildado.com/bingo_patterns.html
www.bingohall.com/patterns-1.asp
