My partner in crime T almost had a regular bingo and was getting very excited. And they really did almost call the 71. Instead they called some other number and the lady behind us BLEW A WHISTLE {instead of yelling BINGO!}. It was crazy. Usually people yell win then win, some people pound on the table to let everybody know, but the whistle lady took it to a new level. And she didn't just purse her lips and whistle, she full-on pulled a whistle out of her shirt and blew into it. Serious whistling.
Then, during the crazy double bingo/wildcard round {which apparently we still don't understand/know when it's coming-bingo is way more complicated than you probably think it is...it is really a life-long skill, like golf or bridge} I was 2 numbers away from the DOUBLE BINGO! And then T nudges me and shows me that he is one away. I recheck all of my cards and discover that I too am one number away from the DOUBLE BINGO!
Now, winning the double bingo is almost the pinnacle of winning in BINGO. The blackout round is definitely THE pinnacle, but the double bingo is right behind. Some of you may recall when T got a bingo, called it out, and was promptly shut down by the entire non-smoking room because he didn't have the double bingo required {by this time we had been going to bingo for several weeks-just goes to show how complicated the game is. and how there are absolutely no instructions given and they just correct you when you mess up. which for us is a lot} Like I said, double bingo is serious. Then I look over T's card more carefully, checking to make sure he had correctly daubbed all of the numbers and not gotten overzealous {obviously an effort to save him from his embarrassing false bingo experience, never to be ultracompetitive and win before him. obviously} Then I recheck mine. Hmmmm. Then I check his again. Interesting. WE BOTH NEED A 24 TO WIN DOUBLE BINGO. Now this is super crazy. I tell T and we agree that we are definitely going to win. And once we both win the double bingo we will never be coming back to our current bingo hall and will need to find a new one because we will probably be chased out of the place!
Here comes the next ball {please I24, please I24, please I24} hmmmm O67. Okay, not the number we wanted but that's fine. Then, we hear it. The dreaded ripping. Somehow, everyone in the bingo hall {besides us} has this crazy sixth sense of when someone has bingo'ed and they start ripping the papers off. BEFORE THE BINGO HAS BEEN CALLED. And it's not like they are sitting next to the winner and talking: 1, there is no talking in the bingo hall and 2, sometimes the winner is in the smoking room, which is completely removed from our non-smoking room. T and I are completely befuddled by this sense, awareness, knowledge...whatever you want to call it, it's crazy and we don't understand. So we hear the dreaded rip and our high hopes sink. And then the current ball is moved and the next ball is put up, B24!!!! But alas, someone had bingo'ed with the previous O67 {it's a complicated bingo rule but you can only claim your bingo once the next ball has been pulled. I personally don't understand at all, but T can explain to you. along the way he'll probably point out that there are a lot of aspects of bingo I don't understand. this is totally and completely true. it's extremely complicated} So we didn't win the double bingo, which would have been terribly exciting.
BUT, there was still another exciting bingo moment. So, in case you were wondering, T and I don't really fit the profile of the average bingo player at our bingo hall. And by average, I mean we are completely and obviously not like anyone else there, in age, appearance, concentration level, giggling level, focus, etc. Now, people at bingo don't talk. I mean, hardly ever besides to call out "BINGO" or "Last Blackout" have I heard a person in the non-smoking room speak. On the rare occasion where speaking does happen, it certainly doesn't involve us. {that said, we whisper and giggle a lot to one another and any guests we may have with us. but the other bingo players odn't talk to us. EVER. except that one time when T thought he had a bingo, called it out, and then EVERYBODY talked to us to inform him he needed 2 bingos. besides that, nobody has ever spoken to us} Then, last night after our bitter defeat at the double bingo T was such a gentleman and very chivalrously went in search of a sprite for me. While he was gone the woman at the table next to me leaned over and spoke to me! And then, the lady at the table next to her leaned over and also started chatting. It was practically our whole row chatting! And then I think they saw T returning because they stopped chatting with me and didn't say anything else the rest of the night but it didn't matter to me because we have so been accepted! {well, I for sure have. I think they are still on the fence about my false-bingoing friend...} 