I’ll keep this short. Recently, I’ve started taking part in a bar trivia game. Not one of those electronic ones, but live. Since I started accompanying my friends, the team score has improved drastically. They used to hardly ever win, or even come second, but the first three times I played, we won, and last night we came second. (We didn’t screw up; the winning team just outscored us.)
Now, the way it works, the winning team gets a bar tab that’s usually worth enough to cover the whole team’s dinner. The second-place team gets a smaller tab. Last night, it was enough to cover about half the check. I had to pay for most of my meal, but I’m wondering if I really should have. The other players said several times that I was “fucking amazing” and that they wouldn’t have even come second last night if I wasn’t there. Out of 98 points, 40 of them were all me. I never said a word, because that’s not the kind of discussion you want to have at the end of the night, but I wonder if it would be possible to bring this up before the next game.
What say you? It would have been a dollar extra from each of the others on the team.
Are you saying that since you scored a majority of the points that you should not have had to pay as much as you did? That they should have paid for your meal?
Even if you scored the most points and they stated such you should still all pay an equal amount.
No, I didn’t suggest any incorrect answers. And the only reason I even thought about this was because of the prize being a bar tab. If it was a tangible prize, I certainly wouldn’t grab it and say “That’s mine.”
Actually, on thinking it over, I’m not even upset with my friends. I’m just upset that anyone had to pay. We all performed to the best of our abilities – no one talked anyone else out of a wrong answer – but the final question gave the other team that edge. So my disappointment was misguided, that’s all. Anyway, I never indicated, by word or deed, that I resented paying.
I’m going against the majority here, based on the limited information
Did Rilch participate out of camraderie, or to compete for free food?
Do star pitchers make more than outfielders? If so, then pitchers are in uneven competition with the outfielders for the total available team compensation. Didn’t Paul and John get songwriting royalties above what George and Ringo received just as performers?
Of course, all this has to be established beforehand. As I’m sure like many of us Dopers*, I’ve been recruited as “the ringer” to bar trivia, too. I’ve found that all one has to do is remain quiet and let the offers flow in.
*Adjust the thread title and we’ll have a better sample!
No, for the camaraderie, certainly. As I said, this would not have even crossed my mind if the prize didn’t apply to meal checks. If it was something tangible, I’d draw straws or whatever, and if it was something tangible that could be divided, like candy or something, of course it should be divided equally. It was simply a matter of finding out we’d lost and then getting handed the check that instant; the two occurences felt linked.
I used to participate in a bar trivia contest with my friends in Athens, GA back in the early 90’s. 1st prize was $50 in drinks, 2nd was $25, 3rd was $10 in drinks.
I don’t drink. I also answered most of the questions for my team, especially towards the end when everybody else was getting a bit snookered.
It never bothered me that I didn’t participate in the prize. Winning was all that mattered.
(Though one of my friends was usually thoughtful enough to bring some pretty kind home-grown each night. )
“Dopers: how do you handle being the ringer on trivia night?”
In my experience, the majority of questions can be answered with “Dale Earnhardt,” or “Logan International Airport,” etc., which the average person can answer. But just to put an edge on it, sometimes the answer is, say, “The Ottoman Empire.”
For this reason, a lot of Dopers will have been dragged along to bar trivia night by their friends and co-workers.
So if you were looking for input from people who might feel entitled to a little more than an equal team share (and who may have either taken advantage of it or graciously declined it), this would be the place to find it.
[Shaun of the Dead]Shaun: "As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no “I” in team, but there is an “I” in pie. And there’s an “I” in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team… I don’t know what he was talking about. "[/SotD]Sorry. If you wanna play, you gotta pay.
