You win some… you lose some

You win some you lose some

Being invited to take part in a prestige television show was an incredible thing, after all the difficult and varied interviews she had been through. This show too, such an honour, and a chance to win up to £5,000 for answering general knowledge questions correctly. 

Maria’s general knowledge was excellent considering her tender 24 years on the earth, as was her capacity for ingesting and retaining knowledge. With the three other contestants, she was introduced to Gerald Martin, the famous TV quizmaster and was surprised to find he was so short, as on TV he looked so tall. 

He came across on the TV as a self-assured, smartly dressed gentleman who could talk for England but here in real life, he was a nervous, nail-biting, nicotine stain fingered, short, scruffy stranger. 

Each contestant stood behind their podium and placed a hand over the buzzer, ready to press it as soon as they thought they knew the answer. Maria looked at the other contestants and fantasised about who was good and who wasn’t and most of all who she thought would beat her to the final, or even in the final, if she managed to get that far. 

Maria’s hand was steady and sure and her mind very alert, so she was able to buzz in quickly, getting almost all of her answers correct. One by one the other contestants were eliminated until, there she was, on her own, the winner! Reaching this far had gained her £1,250 which was the culmination of her money won for each question answered correctly. 

No-one had come near her and she felt rightly proud of herself but with trepidation as she had “The Challenge” to face yet.

Gerald Martin said “You have already won £1,250 but now you have the chance to turn it into £5,000”.

That was the moment she had dreaded as it meant she could gamble her £1,250 on one further relatively difficult question, to win the £5,000 Jackpot, but lose everything if she got it wrong. 

“Do you wish to take the gamble”? asked Gerald in a deafening voice. 

“Yes” she shouted back at him “Yes! I came with nothing so I might as well”.

The audience erupted into loud applause and sighs of surprise. He ushered her to the soundproof box that was used to prevent contestants hearing the answers from the audience and she made herself comfortable before putting on the earphones.

She could now hear Gerald. “Can you hear me” he asked and she replied that she could so he asked her if she was ready for the question. “Ready as I’ll ever be” she replied and immediately thought… ‘why on earth did I have to say that? It probably sounded stupid’ “In what year did the mighty ship The Titanic sink”? was the question.

Maria knew the answer as her mums great uncle had been booked to travel on the Titanic but had missed it as his hotel had failed to call him in time for him to get to the dock. He had missed the doomed ship by two hours. She knew the answer! “It sank in April, 1912” she said and the audience erupted as Gerald moved towards her carrying the dark red briefcase with £5,000 cash in it. 

He opened the case and showed the money, first to her and then to the camera for the millions of TV viewers who were watching. 

An hour and two coffees later, minus her stage make-up and looking happy, she left with her friend Janet, who had come to support her but had expected to be consoling her, rather than rejoicing with her. 

The taxi rank was directly outside the Television Centre and they moved quickly to it to hoping their cab would be getting them to the railway station on time. As they crossed the kerb, a motorcycle mounted the kerb and powered by them, the pillion passenger grabbing the dark red  briefcase as he passed. It all happened so quickly so there was nothing Maria could have done about it. Janet immediately started to try to console Maria but Maria just kept saying “Easy come easy go” and laughed to herself.

Janet was for calling the Police but Maria said the men would be miles away by now and the chances of them ever being caught were virtually nil. At home that night, Maria  sort of felt a little pity… for the men who would discover her make-up and spare shoes in the briefcase….but had a wry and rather proud look on her face as she took the £5,000 from her handbag.