GR Sectional II

Towards the end of a grueling two-session day of playing bridge with bad cards, I picked up yet another hand with barely 3 points.  This was the second day in a row of few honors and it was too much.  I snapped.

"I can't take this anymore!" I shouted and threw my cards down on the table.  Heads craned to see what was going on.  I stood up, knocking my chair over.  "That's it!  I have had enough!"  I stomped out of the room, leaving behind my confused and concerned partner.

The imagined look in my partner's eyes was the only thing that kept me from enacting this scene.  I wasn't worried about any backlash, since anyone sitting south would understand my breakdown.

"I know exactly how she feels," many would report.

"That would have been me if I hadn't had a shot of vodka at lunch," certain people would admit.

Even north would sympathize and discuss what they had witnessed at their tables.  "I could see my partner's eyes glazing over" and "South wasn't even putting the 'pass' cards away anymore between hands" would be typical comments.

I was hopeful that even east-west pairs would be understanding, since they were having issues of their own.  The most common problem seemed to be miscommunication around conventions, but there were others as well.  I don't think I would have been banned from the club, either, since our director was playing and also experiencing the stress.

No, it was the thought of my partner sitting alone at the bridge table that kept me in my seat.  First and foremost, bridge is a partnership game and I couldn't abandon Dee.  I thought about it, though.