Sitting at my desk writing a letter to a friend in London I suddenly, and for no apparent reason, missed the UK show University Challenge.
I missed the feel of sitting around the kitchen table, G, C and I, each one straining to hear Jeremy Paxman over the noise of our other housemates cooking dinner or washing up their dishes afterwards. Seated in a row, for that half hour we would put aside our petty bickering, put aside our alleged differences and form our own team competing against the brains of Britain's tertiary institutes; the architect, the electrical engineer and the historian. Each one bringing an entirely unique encyclopaedia of knowledge to the table.
It wasn't an event we engaged in often, just on the off chance when we happened to be in the right place at the right time. But it was a chance to engage in some stimulating mental exercise without the topic being monopolised by one person alone, or hijacked by though completely lacking in any interest at all. It reminded us that we were more than just our job title, and that despite the general monotony of the conversation around we were each one of us full of hidden knowledge based upon hidden interests that general conversations had yet to unveil. And together, a little team of three, each one with our google-esque bank of knowledge we were capable of genius. And we celebrated each other's genius. For once there wasn't a game of one-up-manship, we didn't sneer at the fact another didn't know that standard piece of knowledge.
We really did work as a team, and we really did enjoy that half hour.
I missed the feel of sitting around the kitchen table, G, C and I, each one straining to hear Jeremy Paxman over the noise of our other housemates cooking dinner or washing up their dishes afterwards. Seated in a row, for that half hour we would put aside our petty bickering, put aside our alleged differences and form our own team competing against the brains of Britain's tertiary institutes; the architect, the electrical engineer and the historian. Each one bringing an entirely unique encyclopaedia of knowledge to the table.It wasn't an event we engaged in often, just on the off chance when we happened to be in the right place at the right time. But it was a chance to engage in some stimulating mental exercise without the topic being monopolised by one person alone, or hijacked by though completely lacking in any interest at all. It reminded us that we were more than just our job title, and that despite the general monotony of the conversation around we were each one of us full of hidden knowledge based upon hidden interests that general conversations had yet to unveil. And together, a little team of three, each one with our google-esque bank of knowledge we were capable of genius. And we celebrated each other's genius. For once there wasn't a game of one-up-manship, we didn't sneer at the fact another didn't know that standard piece of knowledge.
We really did work as a team, and we really did enjoy that half hour.
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