Newcomer Bliss

When I first signed up for bridge classes over 5 years ago, I thought that 6 weeks was an excessive amount of time to learn how to play a card game, even a supposedly complicated one.  "Oh well," I thought at the time,  "At least I'll be an expert when I'm done."  Now I know that even 5 years of almost constant playing is a drop in the bucket of bridge expertise.  Even so, I have learned a lot since those first lessons, but oddly enough there are things about being a Newcomer that I miss.

I miss those huge advances in learning.  For example, one time Gigi sat in for someone in the Newcomer game and after a hand that involved a no trump opening, she kindly explained about transfers. Wow!  What a concept! What I don't miss, though, are times like the one when my partner (yes, it was Julie) missed my transfer and I was so dumbfounded that I left her bid in.  Down a bizzillion.  Now when I learn something new it seems excessively complicated--and by the time it comes up during play, I've forgotten how it works.  

I miss the constant encouragement.  People used to tell me how good I was doing, how amazed they were that I'd only been playing for a short time.  People I didn't even know yet would make a point of seeking me out after a good game (good being a relative term).  Now I need a game in the 60's to get any notice, and then it's mostly just my partner offering congratulations.  I feel like a middle child.  Actually, I think we should all be more complimentary and encouraging of each other.

I miss being happy with "bad" scores. It used to be exciting to have games in the mid to high 40's.  I remember Bob giving us pep talks ("You should try to be at 50%" he would tell us.  "We are trying!" I would reply.)  Now I am often at around 50%.  Well, what's wrong with that?  you might ask.  What's wrong is not the 50%, but how much harder it is to get to the high 50's and 60 than it was to get to the high 40's and 50.  And how much more awful it is to drop into the 30's.

I miss not being aware of stupid mistakes. There's something fun about not knowing exactly how stupid your bidding or play is, especially when you get a good score.  Now I (usually?) know when I've down something stupid, and it haunts me even if the score turns out okay.

Most of all, I miss the illusion that I could be a bridge prodigy.  It's not hard to become an expert in most card games, and at first I thought I could master bridge.  Now I know that even though I will continue to improve, mastery isn't going to happen. If only I had started playing when I was 5 years old, maybe I would have had a chance.