My First Scrabble Club Experience

Last night I attended my first Scrabble club meeting. Yes, there are such things! I didn't realize there were six months ago either.

I found out about the club meeting just that same morning. I decided to attend out of curiosity as much as anything. I almost chickened out though at the last minute. I am not one who usually does spontaneous things, nor do I often freely choose to do things that are inherently social, much less alone.

The club meets on the second Tuesday of the month at Big Pie in the Sky in Kennesaw. I parked outside and asked myself if I really wanted to do this. I knew no one there. How would I recognize the Scrabble club? What if no one was there yet? I set my fears aside and walked in the door.

I saw a couple of scrabble games laying on the second table from the door. At the third table were four ladies of varying ages. My eyes scanned around the restaurant. A family here, a couple on a date there, this must be the club. I stopped at the table and asked if they were here for the Scrabble club. Yes, they were.

After quick introductions to those seated, I was invited to go order some food from the counter and pull up a chair. A couple of them already had a slice of pizza. And by slice I mean a triangular shaped piece of pizza that was about 15 inches long and 10 inches wide at the crust. I place an order for a slice of supreme and make myself a drink and pull up a chair to the table.

Over the next several minutes a few more people show up and my giant slice arrives. The crust is extremely thin and crisp. The pizza is more like a heaping of meat and vegetables on a giant cracker. I am forced to eat it with a knife and fork out of necessity.

Someone holds out a hand with tiles and asks me to pick one. I draw an I. I am told that the I's are to play together on an adjacent table. They have decided to play 3 games of 3 people each. I pick up my huge aluminum pizza tray and move to the next table where I am joined by two women. We elect to finish our pizza slices before commencing with our game. Well, I finish mine anyway. They just quit eating and place the rest in a box.

Our table has a very nice game board. The kind with the built in turntable and plastic seats for the tiles. Each rack has the tile distribution printed on it. The tiles are in a cloth bag. The other tables are stuck with the more common boards.

I am seated on one side of the table with two ladies across from me. I know I was introduced to them when I first walked in, but I cannot remember their names now. About a third of the way through the game I ask them to repeat their names. Elizabeth is the tannest natural redhead I have ever seen in my life. She has been teaching swimming lessons since her summer started. Directly across from me is Nicole, a young African American. These ladies are both teachers and spend most of the game discussing that subject with each other.

About halfway through the game Nicole gets a phone call and shortly thereafter a woman enters and hands her a book. She explains that it is a book written by a woman to help women understand and converse about sports. She is attending an NBA finals watching party on Thursday and wants to be prepared.

I don't remember much about the game itself, except that I win. The game progresses very much like a game with my family would. I play the most unfamiliar word and am questioned about it but not challenged.

After all three tables finish our first game, one of the player leaves. We now redivide into two games of four players each for a second game. Elizabeth leaves to join another table and Nicole and I are joined by Daphne and another woman whose name I did not remember. I do remember however her New York accent.

I get to go first on this game and then the New Yorker, Nicole, and Daphne in that order. Daphne sets me up for a nice triple word score to take a lead. I have quickly ascertained that the New Yorker is the most experienced scrabbler at the table. She shows me her rack of all vowels and asks me what I would do. I say I would swap and she does so.

After a few turns, my rack becomes not so desirable and all my best plays set up possible triple word plays for someone with an S. I decide to do that anyway. Big mistake. The New Yorker has not only an S, but she is able to play QUITS on triple word score. I rue that I didn't play my second option, but she still would have had QIS on triple word score.

Daphne has set up another triple word score but I am hurting for playable letters and dump two vowels elsewhere. The New Yorker makes big on another triple word score and my lead has evaporated. I manage to go out first, but even catching the Z on Nicole's rack does not make up the difference and I finish second to the New Yorker.

While we are playing the second game, a customer walks out through the double doors with the largest pizza box I have ever seen in my life. She had to use both doors because the box was so large. I would love to have seen the pizza itself sitting on a table in front of me.

All in all it was a very enjoyable evening and I look forward to the next one.