Episode 2
Inez Glanger

Georgie: Welcome to  With Love From Bougainvillea, a podcast hosted by your very own local students today, being Georgie 

 

Zara: and Zara. 

 

Georgie: Hi, I'm Georgie, and I'm running music as well as interviewing our guests. 

 

Zara: Hi, I'm Zara, and I'm also interviewing our guests. 

 

Eva: Hi, I'm Eva, and I do all the creative work for our covers as well as interviewing our guests.

 

Shyan: Hi, I'm Shyan, and I'm in charge of all the tech edits and our website. 

 

Zara: The aim of this podcast with love from Boganville is to capture the lives and wisdom of the residents here at the Boganville Retirement Village. As young people, this is an incredible opportunity to connect with and learn from other older members of the community. Our goal is to provide advice for a younger audience in an accessible and entertaining manner. Creating a podcast means that for the average working student, they can listen and simultaneously juggle their busy schedule. 

 

Georgie: Today we are joined by the lovely international award-winning bridge player, rural school teacher, and overall just full of spirit person, Inez Glanger. Inez has lived so, so many lives and we're about to hear just a few 

 

Inez: Inez Glanger, I was born in 1936. I started off my, uh, no, I'll start again from the beginning. I'm the youngest of three girls, and I think my father was exceedingly disappointed that I was not a boy. 

 

Georgie: Oh 

 

Zara: Oh, bless. 

 

Inez: And he, um, didn't speak to me for quite a number of years. In fact, I'd say he didn't speak to me until I was about six when I could have a conversation with him, so my background was quite different from most people's. 

 

Zara: Yeah, I can imagine. 

 

Inez: Mm. So at school I proved to be a good student and I was sent off to a selective school, which is still around today, and there they take in students of good intellectual ability. And my school was at Parramatta. And I lived at Fairfield West, so 

 

Zara: Oh yeah.  

 

Inez: I would catch a, uh, a bus and a train and go to school. 

 

Georgie: How long was the commission? 

Inez: Let me see. It was about, um, 20 minutes into town and then maybe another 20 minutes on the train, so upwards of an hour. 

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Inez: To get to school. 

 

Georgie: Every day. 

 

Inez: Every day. But, but I didn't, uh, mind that because there were other people you could talk to on the train and, uh 

 

Zara: Oh yeah. Make some friends. 

 

Inez: Mm-hmm. And, uh, we always, uh, traveled in a particular carriage and all the friends. 

 

Georgie: Oh. 

 

Inez: Assembled together in that carriage so that they could communicate. 

 

Zara: Oh 

 

Inez: You know? 

 

Zara: Yeah. 

 

Inez: The way, the way you do. So, uh, anyway, uh, where was I at? 

 

Georgie: The train. 

 

Zara: Getting to school. School life. 

 

Inez: Yes. And uh, Parramatta High School was a very good school. When I finished at school, I went to a teacher's college and then became a teacher, and I started off with the little ones with the kindergarten one, two, and then I went to the country and I chose to go to the country because I had two older sisters and they had both got married. And so I thought, well, my parents might be wanting, you know, a bit bit of a child free time. So I went to a school and it was called Bill Bangura, and it was down in the river arena where you probably know that, uh, they grow oranges and sheep, and it's also a wine district. 

 

Zara: Oh

 

Inez: And a tomato district. And the school there, there was a large population of, uh, migrant children and they all came from Italy, from specifically from Calabria. And uh, Calabria is a very interesting part of Italy. It has a very bad reputation and the, in those days, there was a lot of talk of the, uh, mafia who, uh, notoriously bad people. And they all came from Calabria anyway, the students had two days a year off. One was when the tomatoes were ripe, and they were kept home to tread the tomatoes to make tomato sauce. And the other day was when the grapes were ripe and then they had to tread the grapes in order to make the wine. But it was a good place. I liked living there because I wanted to be somewhere different. And then I, uh, I met someone, decided it was time to get married. And that was going to happen in Sydney. So I applied for a Sydney school and got Redfern. 

 

Zara: Oh 

 

Georgie: Oh

 

Inez: Very hard school. 

 

Georgie: Yeah. 

 

Inez: And uh, there was no grass to play on. 

 

Zara: Mm. 

 

Inez: The only area they had was a little bit of, uh, cement. And that was where the students went at recess. And we had staggered recess. Because it wasn't big enough for all the students to go at once.

 

Georgie: That's quite clever. 

 

Inez: And then in the afternoon, I had to go out on this main road, hold up my hand to the traffic so the children could cross the road. 

 

Zara: Oh

 

Georgie: Oh, sweet. 

 

Inez: Yeah. Funny school. Anyway, so. I had my two children, and, uh, then we ran outta money. My husband wasn't very good at keeping a job or getting one, and so I had to go back to work. So being a teacher, it was reasonably easy to get a job. So back I went and I decided that being a classroom teacher was one thing, but it would be better if I was a deputy or, or a principal. So I, uh, took exams, which were, um, a person coming into a room. 

 

Zara: Right.

 

Inez: You know, you didn't sit down and write a paper. So something 

 

Georgie: Like a practical test. 

 

Inez: Yes. They came in and looked at you and looked at the way you um, I guess, responded to people and to children. So, um, I started on the road to promotion and the schools I taught at. I think we're all very deliberately handpicked. The first one was Parramatta West, then it was Seven Hills West, then it was, uh, another Seven Hills School and then another Seven Hills West School.

And they were all these really, really tough schools. And then I was sent to La Perouse. Do you know La Perouse? 

 

Georgie: No. 

 

Inez: Oh. La Perouse is, is a very, very interesting place. It's right on a tip of Australia. And in front of it is water. And on the other side is the power station. And when you're coming into Sydney on a plane, if you come in on the East, west runway and you can see all this water, that's La Perouse.

 

Zara: Oh

 

Inez: And La Perouse is famous for the aboriginal population that it has. And these Aboriginal people are all from the, uh. Southern Rivers part of New South Wales. And there I learned to throw a boomerang. 

 

Georgie: Really? 

 

Inez: Yes. One of the fathers taught me how to throw a boomerang, which was very nice of him. I didn't want to go to La Perouse. And when you became a teacher and you got accreditation to be, uh, in a promotions position. You had to go on this list that we called the, uh, you know, the, the list of all the very best people. And I was the second glass person on the list and there was one girl after me and her name was made out. I'll never forget it. And, uh, she didn't want to go to La Perouse. Oh, she did not wanna go to La Perouse. No, no. We shall just say that. And she had a very good friend. Who was the principal of Potts Point, and, uh, he wouldn't resign until after I had accepted a job so that he could then resign and she could take his job. 

 

Zara: What? 

 

Inez: So that was what happened. And when I read the paper the next year, which said about the promotions position. I see this girl made out has got this Potts Point School. Oh goodness. And I'm stuck with La Perouse, which was a difficult school. So I wrote into the department and they said, it's all right. You can apply for a transfer next year.

 

Inez: One of the things I must tell you about La Perouse, it's a very old building, three stories and oh, windows everywhere, classrooms everywhere. And, uh, a very strange student population. The aboriginals and the, uh, white Australians all got on very well, and we had a marvelous reading scheme, and the students all did rather well at school.

 

Inez: But one Monday morning I went in and there were 134 windows broken. 

 

Zara: Whoa

 

Georgie: That must’ve been a surprise. 

 

Inez: Uh, it was a bit of a surprise. So the first thing a principal does when they come in, they count up on, you know, on Monday morning you how many broken windows, and quite often people do go round and would you believe that's fun, throwing locks at windows? But usually it was one or two windows broken. So when I rang public works and said I had 134 windows broken, they, they just couldn't believe it. Anyway, I was then to be transferred to this other school and I was sent to Narraweena. Do you know Narraweena? 

 

Georgie: Yes. 

 

Inez: Narraweena's in from Dee Why. 

 

Zara: Oh, right. 

 

Inez: And I thought, oh dear, how am I ever going to talk to these North Shore students? I thought, I've been talking to all these students who, who, you know, have really terrible homes. You know, maybe a home where there's no reading, because I'd been to a school in the inner city, which was near an area that the prime minister of the time gave to the Aboriginal people so that they had a space in the inner city where they, they could go to work and students could come in from the country and stay with them for a few days. Anyway, so I thought, oh dear, this is not gonna be good. I've got, I got 

 

Georgie: Something you're not used to. 

 

Inez: I've gotta speak to these students. So before I got there, I found out that Narraweena used to be called Criminal Hill. 

 

Zara: Oh. 

 

Inez: So I thought, oh, well, that, that's good. I'm home. I can talk to these students. And, uh, it was a very interesting school because it was, uh, a third of different populations. There was the housing commission population who were really, really poor, uneducated people at that time. Nowadays, the housing commission people, they have a much better background when they go into the, you know, wherever. And there was another third, which was an Italian population, and they had come there and they were very hardworking people.

 

Inez: They, uh, grew their own vegetables. And, uh, when the children came home from school, they had to work in the yard and work at home, and then they did their homework. And that population always had their homework done and done very nicely. And the other third was just the ordinary Australian people. So here I was at Naraweena. Er, well, I stayed there for the last six years of my teaching career and it was a very interesting school and I really loved being there because the students were very, very interesting.

 

Inez: So then I retired. And I was going to go to, I wanted to get a job in the public service. I thought I want to do a nine to five job where I can just go in the morning, do my work, and go home. Anyway, I was told the public service weren't taking people in at that time, so that didn't happen. So I thought, well, now what am I going to do?

 

Inez: So one of the things I did, I went to a series of lectures at the Wesley Commission in the city, and it lasted a year. And there I learned telephone counseling. 

 

Zara: Ooh

 

Inez: And this was absolutely marvelous and it's helped me, whatever I've done since, because. You get to talk to people and people from very different parts of life and people who are terribly disturbed about something and you know, I can remember and what, what was disturbing to them.  Wasn't necessarily disturbing to someone else. 

 

Georgie: Mm-hmm. 

 

Inez: And I had a, a woman one day crying all over the place because she worn this dress to a Christmas party. 

 

Zara: Oh. 

 

Inez: And, and somebody had made a very rude remark about it. 

 

Georgie and Zara: Aw. 

 

Inez: Oh. And you know, this is a very real crisis. To her at that time. And so you can't tell someone, “Look, that's nothing to worry about. Who cares what she thinks?”  You can't say that. You can't tell someone either how to solve a problem, so you've got to talk to them and talk them around it, and then to get them to find the solution themselves. 

 

Zara: Hmm. 

 

Inez: It's quite hard, but it's uh, very good as a life lesson. 

 

Georgie: It's so interesting you say that, just 'cause I think a lot of people try to jump to the solution a lot of time when helping someone out. If someone's upset or crying, they give a solution as to help. Like, it's not a means of trying to hinder it, but I think that's a very good lesson. 

 

Inez: Yes, you've got to work through it and find out why you're upset. What can you do about it? And, um, you know, fix it up in that way. 

 

Inez: Uh, so I also went to the zoo and I had a job there. I was, um. You'd get a, a bus, a box of animals, and people would come in, maybe 10, and you'd show them these animals and they, they could touch them, you know, they could stroke a frill necklace and discovered it wasn't going to bite their finger and feel the textures and, uh, possums and, you know, everything like that. And then. Change of policy, you know, that was degrading to the animals.

 

Georgie: Oh really?

 

Inez: To show them off. So I got another job at the zoo sitting in a desk handing out leaflets. Oh, here you are. Here's a map of the zoo. Well, that was utterly boring to me. There's no way I was going to do that. 

 

Georgie: You are too lively for that.

 

Inez: Yep 

 

Georgie: Lively. 

 

Inez: One of my main interests in life is music. And, uh, 

 

Georgie: I love music. 

 

Inez:  I have always listened to classical music, and there's a radio station, which is a community radio station, which is radio station two M-B-S-F-M. And I had decided that I wanted to work there when I retired. So I titled along and I had an interview and was accepted, and I was trained, and I worked on the desk of radio station two NBS for 26 years.

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Inez: How about that? But I had to give up when my vision got so bad that I couldn't see anything. 

 

Georgie: Can I ask around what age that was? 

 

Inez: Uh, now let me see. I retired at 55, so 26 years later you work it out. So, uh, that were, that was when I retired from there, but I still listen to two MBS. 

 

Georgie: That's the best thing about music. Like, you don't need vision. 

 

Zara: Yea 

 

Georgie: You can just put on your headphones and still listen. 

 

Inez: Yes. Yes. And I really believe that one always should have music in one's life.

 

Georgie: Do you ever play the piano here? 

 

Inez: No. 

 

Georgie: Oh, you should! 

 

Inez: I, I was not a good pianist. 

 

Zara: Oh. 

 

Inez: And um

 

Georgie: I’m sure that's not.  

 

Zara: I'm sure you're, I'm sure you're lying to us.

 

Inez: I'm not. I'm not, I'm totally honest. That. That's one of my problems. I am totally honest. 

 

Georgie: We should be a duet. We should do a duet 

 

Zara: And I'll dance with you guys. 

 

Georgie: Yes, Zara's a beautiful dancer. 

 

Inez: That would be very nice. 

 

Georgie: So stunning. See, music, guys. 

 

Zara: Music is very important to everyone. 

 

Georgie: Yes. Oh, it's just the most beautiful thing.

 

Zara: Yeah. 

 

Inez: And 

 

Zara: Hopefully will keep up the music and dancing. 

 

Georgie: Yes. 

 

Inez: Well, you've gotta have something apart from your work. 

 

Gerogie: Yeah. 

 

Zara: Yes. 

 

Inez: You know, you come in and you study for an hour and then you go out and run round the block or something. 

 

Zara: Yeah. 

 

Inez: You know, you've got to have a little bit of variety in your life.

 

Zara: Yeah, a balance. 

 

Georgie: If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you. 

 

Inez: Yes. 

 

Georgie: What are some outstanding and unforgettable moments? 

 

Inez: At home, growing up, we always played cards and my parents went away on a p and o cruise and my mother came home and she said to me, I've got a new game and you'll never play anything else. And it's called bridge. 

 

Zara: Oh

 

Inez: So then she

 

Georgie: Wait, I've heard about this. 

 

Zara: What is it? I want to hear? 

 

Georgie: I think my granddad plays. 

 

Inez: Uh, it's a, uh, it's a card- card game. You have to have a partner. 

 

Zara: Ooh, we could be partners together. We'll play. 

 

Georgie: We should come back and 

Zara: We can play together. 

 

Georgie:  We can play with you. Yes. I'd love to learn. 

 

Inez: And when you finished your studying, you should learn and, uh. Bridge is a very difficult game, but, and it's played at all levels. And I played Bridge for Australia. 

 

Zara: Oh 

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Zara: No way. 

 

Inez: Yes, yes. And uh, first of all, I played for New South Wales many, many times with two friends. One of them, she had her second baby and couldn't play Bridge anymore. She was too busy because the night to play Bridge is Monday night in the city at the New South Wales Bridge Association. So I stopped playing with Vicky and a friend of mine said, you should play with Marcia. And Marcia and I. I have to boast. 

 

Georgie: No, please go on. 

 

Inez: Uh, we were playing in the World Championships.

 

Georgie: Oh, wow. 

 

Inez: And there were 400 pairs. 

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Inez: And they published the list of the standings of all the players, and they published the list of the first hundred. And my friend and I were ranked 19th. 

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Zara: Out of a hundred. 

 

Inez: Out of 200- Outta 400. 

 

Zara: Oh my goodness. 

 

Inez: Out of the world, you know. 

 

Georgie: That's insane. 

 

Inez: It was, um. I'd say that's the best thing I've ever done.

 

Zara: That's pretty amazing. 

 

Georgie: That's very impressive. We're getting taught by a Grand Master. A Grand Master of Bridge. 

 

Inez: That's right. And you go up, you become, you know, a junior master, a club master. 

 

Georgie: Oh, it's actually called that. It's like the same as chess. 

 

Inez: Yes. And to become a state master and then a Life Master, and then a Silver Life Master, and then a Gold Life master.

 

Georgie: Wow.

 

Inez: And just before I made the leap between silver and gold, unfortunately my, uh, the rest of my sight went. 

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Inez: And that was a very unfortunate thing because it was actually done by my retinologist. 

 

Zara: Oh. 

 

Inez: And she, uh, introduced some dirt into my eyes. 

 

Georgie: Did she? 

 

Inez: And this eye was stud. I haven't, this eye hasn't worked. Oh. For many a long year, probably until I, I, I was the same age as you two. But you can manage very well with one eye. It's no problem at all. You can read, you can write, you can drive, you know you can do anything. But when the second eye goes, it's different matter. 

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Inez: And you have in your eye, your central vision and around it is, is a ring. And the, when the central vision goes. You can't see anything in the middle, so that's why I can't read. 

 

Georgie: Right.

 

Inez: I can't see anything in the middle and, and that is much too small for me anyway. 

 

Zara: Yeah. 

 

Georgie: Sorry, I didn't know I would've printed them out bigger or though, I suppose we can read them out. 

 

Inez: Well, I have to get

 

Georgie: There's the podcast afterwards.

 

Inez: I have to get someone to read things to me, you know. 

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Inez: And I was going to bring down a letter. I got a letter today. I was going to bring it down and ask you girls to open it too. 

 

Georgie: Oh no. We can do that. Of course.

 

Inez: I, I know you wouldn't have minded. I'll wait until somebody comes. 

 

Georgie: Would you say, um, your sight has affected anything else in your life? 

 

Inez: Oh, do you know to lose your sight is one of the most difficult things ever.   I can't read, so I get talking books. 

 

Zara: Yeah. 

 

Inez: Um, I get them from, uh, 

 

Georgie: Like audiobooks? 

 

Inez: The library, no, from, um, Stanton Library and Mossman Library, and they have a, um, section which is called, um, uh, well it’s for Talking Books. So I have a friend who chooses books for me, so he'll, he'll have 10 books chosen and I go to the library and I press on one of these books and say, I want to read that. And the book is read to me. And then it's like anything else on your iPad, you can, you know, you shut it off. 

 

Zara: Mm-hmm. 

 

Inez: And you know, and you read it when you want to. And that's very, very good. That that is a marvelous thing for people with no vision. 

 

Georgie: Mm-hmm. 

 

Inez: And what else can't I do? Well, cooking's very hard.

 

Georgie: Mm-hmm. 

 

Inez: I still cook for myself. 

 

Zara: Oh good on you. Wow. 

 

Inez: But you've gotta be careful. And every now and then, you know, I cut myself rather badly. 

 

Georgie and Zara: Oh. 

 

Inez: A few months ago. You know, this is to be expected. You know something, some things are, uh. You know, harder than others and getting dressed is hard. 

 

Georgie: Oh

 

Zara: Oh, I can imagine.

 

Inez: You know, what if I

 

Georgie: I mean, your outfit looks stunning, 

 

Zara: It looks beautiful

 

Georgie: All colour matched 

 

Inez: I've gotta be very careful to colour match. You know.

 

Georgie: It really is beautiful. 

 

Inez: You've got no idea how hard it is to be without sight. And I have a wonderful white stick, which I got from Vision Australia, and it's got a red ring around the bottom. And everybody in inverted commas is supposed to know that I can't see, but it's marvelous for me because if I'm walking along and the footpath happens to have a few holes in it, I can bang my stick down forcibly. And that's my third leg. 

 

Zara: Oh, that's good. 

 

Inez: And I won't fall down. 

 

Georgie: Oh, lovely. 

 

Inez: So it's absolutely marvelous. But it doesn't help me when I get into Woolworth and I think, Hmm, I really do need some meat, and what sort of meat am I going to have? Oh, what's that? You know? 

 

Georgie: Yeah. 

 

Inez: And, uh, so it's, you know, it is hard. 

 

Zara: Mm-hmm. 

 

Georgie: Do, do you get the employees to read whatever food it is out to you or how does that work? 

 

Inez: Well, I just hope I get something, but a very good

 

Georgie: Might end up with kangar oo, who knows? Try a new meat. 

 

Inez: Yes. Uh, a very good thing that Redlands actually does. They come to Bougainvillea and uh, they'll do anything for you. So I've got all these papers and I say, okay, read, tell, tell me what I've got there. And they read, read it to me. And it's marvelous.

 

Georgie: Oh, lovely. 

 

Zara: Aw

 

Inez: It is, it is wholesome, absolutely wonderful thing that Redlands do, and I cannot thank you enough.

 

Georgie: That's lovely. 

 

Inez: I know that. Um. You know, people without my disability, they, they ask them to do other things, you know, but that's what I get them to do and it's marvelous. And then I get them to talk about themselves. Oh, you know, if we've run out of time. 

 

Georgie: I'm quite lucky 'cause I, um, also struggle with my vision. Um

 

Inez: Oh, do you? 

 

Georgie: I do. Um

 

Inez: What's the problem? 

 

Georgie: I was diagnosed with myopia when I was quite young. 

 

Inez: Right. 

 

Georgie: And I was actually 

 

Inez: Short sighted. 

 

Georgie: Yes. Very short sided. 

 

Zara: Oh, right. 

 

Georgie: Like you, like you cannot see, um, and. Uh, throughout my journey, I was just getting thicker and thicker glasses, and at one point I was admitted to a clinical trial at UNSW.

 

Inez: Oh, how lovely. 

 

Georgie: And now. I can see, which is great for me. Um, I am on these contacts that I wear at night instead of in the day. 

 

Inez: Oh, for goodness sake.

 

Georgie: I know. And like, since I don't have to wear anything in the day, I don't have to wear glasses. I don't have to wear contacts. It's great for my sport. It's great for my music. I can read my music again. Um, but they've had this great trial. I think it's public now. Oh. Um, I, I was one of five that tried it at first, but it's the best ever. 

 

Inez: How does it work? 

 

Georgie: Um, it reshapes your eyeball. 

 

Zara: Oh. 

 

Georgie: To be honest, I don't know all of the details. Um, all I know is that I put them in and I can see the next day, which is great for me. Um, but yeah, it's so useful and I love it so much.

 

Inez: And you know, to be wearing glasses. And going to school. Oh yes. You know, here comes four eyes. Oh, you can't play that sport because you know, you can't play hockey, you can't do this, you can't do that. 

 

Georgie: Otherwise you have to take them off and not be able to see, 

 

Inez: That’s right. 

 

Georgie: Which is not great.

 

Inez: Gosh, that's a wonderful innovation, isn't it? 

 

Georgie: Yeah, it's quite incredible. Like really? Sometimes I don't know how the full thing works. I'm just grateful that I have them, but they're really quite lovely. I think quite a few people have them now. I met someone else with them and I go, we’re the same. It's like, I've got those contacts too. 

 

Inez: And nobody knows. 

 

Georgie: I know. Everyone's so surprised when I tell them that I have like eye problems. 

 

Zara: I remember when you first told me, I was like, what? What do you mean? 

 

Georgie: Because everyone goes, oh, like where are your glasses? And I go, well, I don't actually have to wear them. It's quite good. 

 

Inez: And I don't wear glasses because it’s absolutely pointless. I've lost my central vision

 

Georgie: A fashion statement. A fashion statement

 

Zara: Matching blue ones. 

 

Zara: Who has had the biggest impact on your life and why? 

 

Georgie: That's a good one. That’s a good one. 

 

Inez:  Ooh

 

Zara: You can take a moment. 

 

Georgie: Yeah, think about it. 

 

Inez: I think I'm going to say what. And playing Bridge has opened up a new world to me. I started to play in Sydney with a friend who I knew and we both played bridge, but then when I got into the New South Wales team, then I went round to all the states and played people from other states, and it's a wonderful way to meet other people. 

 

Zara: Yeah. 

 

Inez: And then when I got to play for Australia, of course, off we went, first of all to Tahiti. 

 

Zara: Oh

 

Inez: And played against all the, um, Tahitian Islands and New Zealand. We, we are in a group and the two major players in it are Australia and New Zealand. And they've been traditional enemies in every sport. You know, it doesn't matter what it is. So anyway, so we had to beat New Zealand and uh, then we went to Monte Carlo. Um

 

Georgie: Wow, so much travel. That must've been so beautiful.

 

Zara: It's taken you everywhere. 

 

Inez:  I mean, it costs personally. Quite a lot of money. Yeah. The New South Wales gives you some money when you are playing, when you're representing New South Wales and representing Australia, but it doesn't anywhere like cover your bills, so you have to put in quite a lot of money of your own. But that's okay. I mean, look what you're getting in return. 

 

Georgie:  Yeah, of course. A World Champion title? 

 

Inez: Yeah.

 

Zara: For all the slow people in the room. How does one actually play bridge? I'm still a bit lost. 

 

Inez: Right? Well, it's a difficult game. You have to have a partner. You shuffle out the cards one at a time, and you pick them up. The person past the dealer has a look at their hand and decides whether it's good enough to make a bid and say, my hand is, is good. And you're talking to your partner over here. We can both listen in, but uh, you know, your partner's the one mainly listening. So you might say one heart and you look at your hand and you think, gee, I don't like her. And look, I've got, I've got eight diamonds. I've got a terrible hand, so I'm going to call three diamonds, which is a weak bid, and it also takes up a lot of room. So one heart, three diamonds. Now your partner's gotta say three hearts, and maybe they're not sure if that's what they want a bid or you know

 

Zara: Oh

 

Inez: What else? And so you

 

Zara: I see. 

 

Inez: You know? So then you play the game, and then in, after the bidding. Somebody has to play the hand. And it's good if you're good at playing the hand, you know, because then you can do better. 

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Inez: Mm. 

 

Georgie: No, I'm still thinking back to 19th. 

 

Zara:  It's crazy. Yeah. Outta that many people. 

 

Georgie: Out of the world, Zara. 

 

Zara: I know, I know. That just blows me away. 

 

Georgie: That's absolutely insane. 

 

Inez: And English is, we're very lucky because English is the, uh, lingua franca, which means that it's the common language. And so no matter what sport you play, English is number one language, And if you are flying an airplane, every airport, all the messages are in English. You know, you are going to land on runway three all in English. So we are very lucky that, uh, we are English speakers. 

 

Georgie: I personally only speak English, so quite single lingual. 

 

Inez: Well, I learned French at school. Oh yeah. And, uh, when I was traveling, I, I found that, uh, the wee bit of French I had. It got me into a lot of places and if you go to a country and you try to speak their language, they appreciate that and they probably know more English than you know as their Spanish or whatever, and so they will feel that you are trying and so they try harder back.

 

Georgie: Mm. 

 

Inez: One of my nephews very much wanted to learn Spanish. 

 

Georgie: Mm. 

 

Inez: And he now has a job where he speaks Spanish all the time. 

 

Zara: Oh, wow 

 

Georgie: In Spain or in Australia? 

 

Inez: No, he's working in Italy at the moment. 

 

Zara: Oh. 

 

Georgie: Oh, wow. 

 

Inez: He, he, uh, he works, um, you know, he, he, he's got something to do with airports. It's all much too difficult for me. But he, um. He goes to these little airports and the lingua franca of those places is Spanish. 

 

Georgie: Wow. 

 

Inez: So, uh, there we are. 

 

Georgie: Spanish in Italy. 

 

Inez: Yeah. 

 

Georgie: Wow. Learn something new every day. 

 

Inez: There you go. 

 

Georgie: Is there anything else you'd like to add? Any last remarks?

 

Inez: No, I don't, except to say, to reinforce that I do appreciate Redlands coming in and helping we oldies with disabilities, with things that we can't manage for ourselves. Like for me, reading the books, reading papers and letters and opening them, I, I really can't stress what a wonderful thing that I think Redlands are doing. For all the people here. 

 

Zara: Of course. 

 

Inez: Thank you. 

 

Zara: No, thank you. 

 

Inez:  From the bottom of my heart.

 

Georgie: That's so sweet. Thank you so, so much for your time and your stories

 

Zara: Your patience. 

 

Georgie: You are like the most interesting person ever and so lively and such a beautiful soul. It's been lovely to talk to you. 

 

Inez: Oh, thank you very much. 

 

Georgie: I'm we'll be, we'll be back. Soon, I'm sure definitely to play bridge. Of course.

 

Zara: We'll come back to bridge things to each other. 

 

Georgie: Yes. That would be lovely. 

 

Inez:  We haven't got bridge going here. There's one fellow, one fellow here out 

 

Georgie: Watch out, we'll be the next. 

 

Zara: We’ll make it happen.

 

Georgie: We’ll be the next pair. Trust. Watch out. World champion. Here we come. 

 

Inez: There's one fellow here who's a. You know, a reasonable bridge player. And he's so annoyed that I can't, I can't see, oh, I can't play. Oh, you know, well you can get uh, cards with braille dots in the corner. 

 

Georgie and Zara: Oh, that's, yes. 

 

Georgie: But then you'd have to, but then the other people can see. 

 

Inez: I’d have to learn braille.

 

Georgie:  Oh, yes. Another language. 

 

Inez: And you speak a bit, and then you wouldn't be able to see your cards.

 

Georgie: Yeah. 

 

Zara: Right. Yeah. 

 

Georgie: And you can't even read the other people's poker faces. 

 

Inez: No, you can't, you can’t. 

 

Georgie: Well, thank you again. It means the world. 

 

Zara: Yeah. Thank you so much. 

 

Georgie: Um, to us. You came and talked to us. It's been so much fun. Thank you so much. 

 

Inez: Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you. 

 

Georgie: It's been a pleasure. 

 

Inez: Good luck. 

 

Georgie and Zara: Thank you.

 

Inez: And we work hard. 

 

Georgie: We will. 

 

Inez: Thank you for listening and pushing me 

 

Zara: Thanks for listening  to us. Thank you. 

 

Inez: Pushing the questions and everything. 

 

Georgie: Of course, of course. No, we loved listening to you. It was quite fun. 

 

Zara: And that's all for us today. Thank you so much for listening, and make sure to check out our website where you can find the transcript and all our episodes to come. 

 

Georgie: And a quick shout out to our wonderful team Shyan for all of our editing, Eva for design and my lovely co-host for today, Zara. 

Georgie and Zara: With Love From Bougainvillea, mwah!