B – I – N – G – O !

Last night Andrew and I attended his company’s annual post-Christmas party. They hold it in January to be more accommodating to everyone’s busy holiday schedules, which is much appreciated. Plus, it’s always nice to have something to look forward to in January.

Every year there’s a theme. We’ve had a French chef cook for us (back in the old days when the company was much smaller and we could all fit comfortably in the company president’s living room), played “Family Feud” a couple times, attended a magic show, watched a comedian at a comedy club, etc. This year’s theme was BINGO, which was definitely one of my favorites.

This might also be a memorable theme for my husband who informed me he has never actually played BINGO before, though they do play it in England. Lucky he had me nearby since I would consider myself a well-advanced amateur. I wouldn’t call myself professional. I would only use that designation if I was someone who played several cards at once on a fairly regular basis (like my late aunt who played it religiously and even named her dog Bingo). I’m not old enough for this to be a serious interest yet (and they only do BINGO at my church's annual summer festival).

Andrew soon caught on and even won once. Each winner received a ticket on which you wrote your name and put it in the box with the rest of the company tickets hoping yours was drawn at the end of the evening for one of the many prizes on the table.

My favorite BINGO round was Music BINGO where about 15-30 seconds of a song from the 80s & 90s was played and you had to locate it on your card hoping it was in the position where it counted for the ‘X’ we were trying to get. This was a game where the older you were, the easier it was. I was definitely the oldest at my table, so Andrew and I had to occasionally assist the two millennials at our table. Needless to say neither of us won at that,

Mohawk man won the Music BINGO

but I didn’t care because it was so much fun, and I think most of his coworkers would just as soon they played all of each song because there was a lot of singing along. Maybe Karaoke will be considered for next year.

The last BINGO of the night netted the winner 5 tickets if they managed to fill every space on their card. By this point in the evening there was a lot of moaning and groaning by sore losers, so it’s just as well that it was the last round. Neither of us won at that either, but came awfully close.

After a quick bathroom break, or a return to the drinks station, everyone gathered around the prizes table as names were methodically drawn out of the box. The caveat was that ‘you get the prize you get; no trading, no whining.’ The prize we won might be the reason for that rule.

I was a little surprised to hear my name called (we each got a free ticket upon entry which is how my name ended up in the box). In spite of Andrew’s coworker shouting what each prize was, I still didn’t completely comprehend what it was until I squinted at the small print.  I won a voucher for an hour and a half AXE THROWING SESSION FOR TWO at a place in Columbus. Honestly, that’s not something I’ve ever given much thought to, and brings to mind the time Ed Ames (Mingo on “Daniel Boone”) was on Johnny Carson teaching him to throw a tomahawk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L5QC9ZJkM8

Still, it should be fun, and I think would be a good annual resolution to try something new every year that’s at least a little bit physical (last year was a Segway tour of Columbus). Andrew’s coworker said he’s done it and was quite sore afterwards, so perhaps we should do a little weight lifting or push-ups or pull-ups or something to build up our arm and shoulder strength.