About six months ago, I was called to the lawyer’s office several towns over to fill in some obligatory paperwork. Lawyers love paperwork.
When I got to the question about what I do for a living, I simply added, “BBO” and moved on to the next one.
I trailed the form to the end, signed and then dated.
A few minutes later, halfway into an energy drink I’d brought into the office to wake me up this time of the morning, I saw a puzzled expression float across the lawyer’s face. A slight amount of worry must have floated over mine at the same time.
“What’s BBO?”
The golden question.
“Well,” I said. “First, I have to explain bridge.”
Here’s where I have to admit that I sometimes work the acronym BBO into conversations with non-bridge players just to get the conversation to a few sentences about bridge.
Why?
It works.
Bridge is a new topic for many people, and I remember this every time I meet someone and know they might not play bridge. The game has become part of my daily life; if you know me long enough, then I’m probably going to tell you something about bridge at some point.
I’ve even interjected a few conversations with: “Oh, you think the Golden Gate bridge is great? Have you ever heard of contract bridge?” or “Maybe you’d enjoy bridge.”
I’m also a walking tome of increasingly random bridge-related facts. These are rattled off at random – and usually until someone asks me to stop.
Bridge is a great conversation starter (and sometimes interrupter). Talking about bridge everywhere can only help the game to move forward into the minds of more people.