What Took So Long? Quotes

“… I notice differences in how we all handle the mahjong tiles. Pat and Amy treat the tiles with something bordering on reverence. They silently select tiles for discard from their racks and place them gently on the tabletop, in a dainty almost whispering motion. Sue and I place our discard tiles down so they make that clicking sound I have always loved hearing. Betty flings her tiles onto the tabletop with a throw-away motion befitting the worthless items they are.”
― Meredith Marple, What Took So Long?: A Group-Phobic, Uncomfortable Competitor's Journey to Mahjong - A Memoir Essay

“I didn’t think of myself as competitive. I thought in terms of having fun playing games and trying to win, but with me it was more hoping to win. I didn’t have that killer instinct they say is required to get to the top. I couldn’t see myself behaving as my dad did with his vociferous love for golf and football. The house resounded with his yells and groans during PGA and NFL tournaments. It seemed to me that yelling in itself required a killer instinct.”
― Meredith Marple, What Took So Long?: A Group-Phobic, Uncomfortable Competitor's Journey to Mahjong - A Memoir Essay

“The ski club was a frugal and intergenerational group. It gave dime-store trophies for speed and agility within categories of gender, age, and experience, and so eventually everyone got a trophy.”
― Meredith Marple, What Took So Long?: A Group-Phobic, Uncomfortable Competitor's Journey to Mahjong - A Memoir Essay

“The only groups I willingly joined were spontaneous, short-lived, and usually game-playing.”
― Meredith Marple, What Took So Long?: A Group-Phobic, Uncomfortable Competitor's Journey to Mahjong - A Memoir Essay