We walked the ten blocks or so from the second story apartment in Somerville, MA. A perfect hint of chill in the air reminded us that fall is around the corner. The homes were narrow and deep, streching far from the curb. Each one had a unique personality. Some recently restored with meticulous postage stamp lawns. Hydrangea bushes in full bloom. Others in dire need of a caring hand.
The Thirsty Scholar offered traditional British pub fare and a large, empty table to this hungry bunch of travelers from Boulder, Durham and Providence. Orders placed, soon we found ourselves in the middle of Sunday night trivia. Our party of twelve divided into two teams. The “out-of-towners” and “the grumpies” versus the Harvard crowd. In round two we were given a black and white copy of twelve different movie scenes with the assignment of identifying the actor name and movie title. My brother-in-law and his father completed half the page within the first minute. But I tend to struggle with actor names. I can tell you which movie, when I saw it, and who the romantic interest was. But please don’t ask me to remember his name.
So I sat there staring at a picture of Bill Pullman. ”He’s the guy from While You Were Sleeping!” ”Yeah, that would be Bill Pullman,” Kevin responded. BILL PULLMAN was written in all caps under the picture. I had a vague memory of a terrible movie from college, one that stuck with us girls for some time and the direct cause of much laughter. “The girl,” I said, “she’s the one who has a talk show now. You know.” Kevin didn’t know. “It was that terrible dating movie. Where he broke his finger.” The wires connected. “MR. WRONG!” I exclaimed loudly. Kevin shushed me. We were, after all, competing with the Harvard crowd. Quite pleased with myself, I knew I had come through for my team. Honestly, how many Harvard guys would have taken the time to watch Bill Pullman and Ellen Degeneres in a romantic comedy? We now had the leading edge. Or so I thought.
I let out a loud whoop when the emcee announced Mr. Wrong as the correct answer. Kevin looked at me in disbelief. “Mr. Wrong?” he said. “I thought you said Mr. Wong!”
We had to depart for the hour drive back to Providence before the final scores were tallied. But Kevin and I will forever wonder if trivia night makes allowances for typos.
