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Bob Jasper's avatar

Dinner time was very important at our house, too, when I was growing up. Once I got into serious trouble and was grounded for a week when I missed Sunday dinner. . . Whenever I was in town when the kids were growing up, we ate dinner together. If we had nothing to talk about, I'd pick up one of several trivia books I had. The kids loved them. Now, my wife and I always eat 3 meals together. If we don't have anything to talk about, we'll turn on the news, which usually gives us something to complain about. . . This piece sounded familiar. Is it a rework of one of your earlier works? Irregardless, I enjoyed it. The stats were interesting, too. I guess Covid did have at least one positive effect.

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Jill Ebstein's avatar

Love the idea of picking up a trivia book to extend dinner conversation. We sometimes talk politics or a work situation. During Covid, when the world seemed so quiet, it wasn't always easy finding topics because not much was happening in people's lives. This is a rework, but soon I will probably be posting first on Substack and then send over to Medium. Since I've written over 300 pieces, I have a good repository of writing to lean on and rework, along with brand-new content. btw, I want to write a piece about where religion factors into our kids today. Lots of data show interest is dwindling. I think that's up your alley.

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Bob Jasper's avatar

Trivia books were very popular back in the late 70s. I think that's when the Trivia game came out. The game got me started. We even had a group of 4 co-workers who ate lunch together in the cafeteria. Our "leader," Dave Dornberg always brought along a book "in case the conversation lagged." It was usually one he'd found at a garage sale for 25 cents or less. He'd quote something interesting he'd found in it or quiz us on what he'd learned. We called ourselves the "NUTS" group - Noontime United Trivia Society.

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Jill Ebstein's avatar

Sounds both smart and fun

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Bob Jasper's avatar

It was. Made our noontime meal a much more enjoyable time; otherwise, I'd probably have eaten alone with my nose in a book. Sound Alfred-ish?

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Bob Jasper's avatar

Definitely up my alley. The stats for Christianity show it is trending down. The Lead Pastor at our church said that if the trend continues for the Lutheran church we'll be out of business by 2050. Wish I could remember the exact numbers he quoted. I think some denominations are growing. Check out https://www.pewforum.org/2021/12/14/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated/. I'm looking forward to your article. Many people now claim to be spiritual but not religious. I claim to be both.

I wrote a story about being spiritual and religious a couple of years ago: https://medium.com/illumination/spiritual-and-religious-43d172a51aeb. There is an interesting and alarming graph there. The "Nones" are definitely growing in number.

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David Perlmutter's avatar

A good QB can make a big difference to whether a football team succeeds or not, as Elway proved in his lengthy stint in Denver.

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Jill Ebstein's avatar

Definitely, and wow! You know football! Elway was my childhood hero and was the reason for their Superbowl success.

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