Bridie Connell
Appearances
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
The rules of the game are you say pinch and a punch, first day of the month, no returns. Obviously the no returns is important. When I was little, when we started doing this, we would, you know, gently, of course, actually do the little pinch and a punch first day of the month. One of them would actually pinch and punch the other.
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
But over the years, as the way we've done it has become more inventive and stylish, and now that we live in different countries, obviously the physical element is kind of removed. So it is often just something written down or over the phone.
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
One day when Bridie was 14, I got pulled out of class and sent to the principal's office. So I immediately assumed I was in deep trouble. And I was a very good kid at school. I never did anything naughty. So going to the principal's office was, you know... really out of character. So I was immediately terrified. So I walk to the principal's office and there's the principal.
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
There's this other guy holding a fancy looking envelope. I open the envelope message for Bridie Connell and it's pinch and a punch first day of the month, no returns. And I think at that point, in Dad's mind, I'm pretty sure he's gone, OK, well, I've escalated this game to the, you know, highest degree. She's never going to come back from that.
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
But I think he forgets that he has passed on his extreme competitiveness to me. And from then it kind of kicked off.
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
And as you know, we have rules about really, really, really early flights. wake-up calls and pensioner punch calls are not allowed, and they haven't been allowed for years. So I thought, I'm just going to have to wait. I'm just going to have to hope that by the time I arrive in New Zealand, which will still be fairly early, that Dad's forgotten and I can get in there and win for the month of May.
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
And then, you know, that was all I thought about it. And then I got onto the plane. I boarded. I took my seat. And I sat down on the plane. And then about five minutes later, while everyone's still, you know, filing into the plane, the cabin manager comes up to me and says, oh, excuse me, Miss Connell, you've been moved.
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
And then he said, oh, by the way, I've got something for you. And he handed me an envelope. I just thought, oh, maybe I'm about to be, maybe this is part of the premium economy service. Maybe it's a menu. I don't know what it is. As you can tell, I am not used to that premium economy life. And I opened the envelope. And it was a letter from my dad saying, I hope you have a great flight.
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
I can't wait to see you when you land. And also just something to reflect on while you're winging your way across the Tasman, pinch and a punch for his day of the month, no returns.
This American Life
853: Groundhog Day
And then when the video changes and it becomes clear that they're talking to him, he just obviously does not compute for like 10 seconds. And then he was like, what? What? What? Hang on.