Random reminder

Press, 24 October 1984, Page 39

Random reminder

IS ANYTHING WORN .

Two aquaintances of ours play a game of Pretend to while away the tedium of long car journeys. Half a point, they say, if you scare a little old lady on a pedestrian crossing, 20 points if you can make a really fit jogger jump aside. “Look,” the passenger might say, “Up ahead. Two joggers. That’s 40 points if you can scare both of them.” The driver revs the engine and looks serious, but no actual attempt is made to terrify anyone. This point-scoring game developed into a series of dares, beginning when one of them acquired a kilt in his family tartan. “I dare you,” said the other, “to go jogging in your kilt Twenty points for jogging in the rush-hour, 10 points otherwise.” “No problem,” said the first, and it wasn’t The rush-hour motorists were amused. Things went too far when Mack was

invited to a wedding. “Wear your kilt,” his friend dared him. “Five points for each man who asks if anything is worn under the kilt and 10 for each woman.” There was some brisk bargaining about how many points it was worth if the minister, the caterers or various others made witty comments, and when the day of the wedding arrived and the wedding guest strode off in his Harris tweed jacket, sporran, and shoes shining, kilt flicking from side to side, his friend was worried. A game is a game, but he didn’t want to lose by too many points. But the contest may have to be called off, because their pre-wedding bargaining wasn’t thorough enough. Mack is holding out for an extra 100 points, while his friend claims he won’t go beyond 50. Who would have thought that the mother of the bride would insist on examining Mack’s knees?