Totally Trivia At The Imperial

Location: The Imperial Nursing Home

Date: Saturday, April 27, 2013; 2:30-3:30 pm

The last time I had done this program was perhaps one of the most profound experiences that I have had with Chicago Cares.  I arrived here after a brief stop, post my morning project, and found the rest of the volunteers there, but no sign of Wilson.  Amongst the group was a young man, Danny, who was dropped off by his mom.  I have seen quite a bit of this with Chicago Cares, where parents are encouraging their kids to participate by bringing them to projects and then picking them up later.  Wilson arrived soon and we were ready to play some trivia.  The problem was that there weren't too many residents who would be participating; in fact those at the front were asleep.  But as they say, ‘The Show Must Go On’. 

That's a lot of water

I asked Wilson when he had found the time to compose the questions and he said that he had done so just a few hours ago.  Wilson split the room in two teams – Team A comprised of people near the wall and Team B comprised of people at the front.  He then said that Danny, another volunteer Tony and I could take turns in asking the questions.  Besides that, I would also be acting as the scorekeeper.  Wilson started by asking a warm-up question: “Name 3 states in the US that are near a water body?”  We went around the room and after a bit of encouragement, we got some answers back – “Hawaii”, said one.  “Illinois” said another.  One gave the answer as “Texas” and Wilson asked a follow-up, asking if they knew which body of water.  They knew it to be the ‘Gulf Of Mexico’ and at least the warm-up had produced good involvement.  One of the other good things about this program is the participation by the caregivers.  They enjoy taking part with a great deal of enthusiasm and we do not mind. 

Wilson left me in charge as he went to get the prizes from his car – and knowing the stuff in his car, it was bound to take time.  I was to ask the first four questions, followed by Danny and then Tony.  The first question on my list was something I had no idea about – the inventor of a cotton gin.  Not just that, the next three stumped me as well.  Where did Wilson get these questions?  Now, I may not have known answers to any of these, but Danny certainly did.  He was an extremely bright kid and was encouraging the residents to answer.  Team A seemed to be very active, while Team B was struggling.  One of the volunteer’s Charles, was answering “Michael Jordan” to all of the questions and people were enjoying that. 

One lady came and joined Team B and she was by far the sharpest resident in the room and single-handedly carried Team B on her shoulders.  In fact, at the beginning she was quite shy and asked permission before answering.  I told her not to worry and answer whenever it was her team’s turn.  Wilson was very particular about this and said that if it wasn't your turn and answered correctly, the other team gets the point.  And he was complaining that I was too strict at the Roulette wheel!  But the residents were having fun, well at least the ones on Team A were.  For a question on who had won the Nobel peace prize in 1984, when the answer was revealed to be ‘Bishop Desmond Tutu’, someone said that it was something young girls wear as ballerinas.  I was having fun as well and on a question regarding which US state has the wettest spot on earth, I said it was definitely not Arizona!

The scoreboard

On a question asking which three horse racing events make up the ‘Triple Crown’, I knew ‘Kentucky Derby’ and ‘Belmont Stakes’, but never remember the third one, which is ‘Preakness Stakes’.  To give hints, I said that one of them is a CTA station nearby, referring to Belmont, while Wilson said that the other one was a fried chicken bucket!  One of the questions was related to ‘The Beatles’, and my love for them has been elaborated before; though that did not stop me from telling that to everyone in the room.  While I thought that the questions were tough, I was learning a lot as well, for instance, I had no idea that the Watermelon is a vegetable?  On one question Wilson asked, “Which three drugs are most commonly mentioned in autopsies as the cause of death from drug overdose”.  I said that one of them was a song by Eric Clapton, and when one of the caregivers got all three correctly, Wilson looked at her in mock suspicion and said that she certainly knew her drugs.  It was that kind of afternoon. 

The one lady on Team B was fighting a lone battle and got several questions right, including a few when it wasn't her turn – thus handing points to Team A.  Despite her valiant efforts, team B fell short at the end, though Wilson distributed the prizes – cookies – to everyone and even offered seconds and thirds. It had been another fabulous afternoon and it really did not matter who had won.  What had been important was the participation, and some of the residents had been enthusiastically involved. Plus the volunteers had been fantastic, starting with Danny and Tony as well as Charles' 'Michael Jordan' quirks.  Later as Wilson gave me a ride, he said that the residents prefer the simple things like cookies to any other gifts.  These people are under special care and a cookie, something which we take for granted, is really a luxury for them, something that means a lot to them.  We talked about this program and how important it is for us to be there.  As he dropped me, I asked if he was going to go home and get some rest and he said that he was headed to Red Cross to put in a shift, since he had missed one in the morning.  The reason that he had not gone there this morning is because he was volunteering somewhere else, not because he slept in!  But really, how dare he not be at multiple places! It's Wilson after all.