Let’s enter the mind of a quizzer. Now remember, the mind of a quizzer plays in slow motion when on the “hot seat”. Everything seems twice as long. 1 second is feels like 2 seconds, one mintue is really only a half minute.
BZZZT! That is the sound of the buzzer going. You look, it’s yours buzzer, you made it in. You say your audible word, “Where”, parroting the first word the quizmaster said. That will give you 30 seconds to answer. You lean back in your chair. But this isn’t a retreat, it’s an attack. Time to do some heavy thinking.
You try to think about the answer, but too many things are going through your mind. You look to your left to two of your quizmates, looking at you in encouragement and wonder. You look to your right. Your quizmate on the end seat, which you like, has this smirk on his face. It’s the “I know the answer, and I buzzed in but lost to you by a quarter second. Let’s see if you know it.” You look at the front row. The first two seats the quiz coaches are sitting in. You had to prove to them at practice to start you today, and now you don’t want to blow it for today and future quizmatches. Next to them is the first sub. She looks on in encouragement and anticipation because she really wanted to get in this match. Next seat over is you have the second sub. He thinks he’s so much better than you. He’s got the same smirk as the quizzer to your right. Oh, how much you’d like to see the smirk wiped off by doing better. Behind is the second row. The row is filled with your family members. The one week they come, and you don’t feel confident about yourself. You look deeper in the audience. In the corner seat in the back row is the teen you have the biggest crush on. You would really like to impress that important person. How much you have just been inspiried.
It feels like 30 seconds have gone by, but’s it’s only been 15 seconds. Time to get serious and think about the question. You repeat the question over and over and over in your head. After some thinking, you are able to complete the whole question in your head. Now to figure out the answer. In your head, you are flipping through the pages in the quizbook in your mind, looking for the answer. There, you found the page. You know the answer is in the last paragraph. Since it’s a when question, you know the answer is highlighted in yellow. You think harder. There! There it is! But what if your wrong! Could it be another answer. Where you buzzed wasn’t exactly key. You see the timekeeper hover his finger over the “time up” buzzer. That is your 5 seconds left warning. This is no time to doubt, go with your instinct. You sit up and smile. You give your answer, trying to be as cool as you can. There is almost a lull between your answer and the quizmasters decision……
Official Countdown to the first quiz match of 2005:
4 days, 23 hours, 55 minutes
Quizzing Question of the post:
Who was in charge of the forced labor?
The Contextual Literalist 