Just before Christmas, there was a small news item where a local bingo game dropped some bingo calls for fear of offence. The story went something like this: a local councillor who called the numbers at charity bingo sessions dropped stalwart bingo calls like “two fat ladies 88″ and “legs 11″ because council officials feared numerous court cases from offended players.
It was reported that the caller, John Sayers, who runs weekly games in the Sudbury town hall in Suffolk said council clerks advised him the traditional calls should be dropped to avoid claims made by players. Mr Sayers, 75, a former town mayor and current member of Subury Town Council said
“The concern was that if there might be two large ladies in the audience when I said ‘two fat ladies 88′ or someone might think I was looking at their legs when I said ‘legs 11.
“I was advised that someone might take offence and we could end up being taken to court.”
Along with many players at the local bingo games, Mr Sudbury was notably annoyed by the instructions, saying “I don’t like. No-one had ever complained about being offended. But they moan now they say it’s boring. And I think just saying the numbers is boring too.
“I’m obviously not being offensive – just having a bit of fun. It’s the tradition of the game and part of our language.”
Clearly, this view is one shared by many in the bingo community, as news reaches us that a new online petition has been set up, with 3,000 signatures already! With a target of 10,000 signatures, it seems the new petition will soon be hitting its goal, with campaign director Rob Hutchinson determined to deliver the petition to Sudbury Council’s offices to reinstate one of the great traditions of the humble game of bingo.
For us, we think the traditional, tongue in cheek calls are an integral part of bingo’s identity. Many online bingo sites, including the increasingly popular Costa Bingo, employ the same calls when the numbers are announced, to bring a taste of the traditional bingo hall into player’s front rooms. The fact that this is under threat in real clubs will no doubt cause a fair few bingo fans – both online and offline – to fight back.
And if there is one thing we know, it’s that the bingo community is notorious for raising it’s voice when it needs to be heard- just last year, hundreds of bingo fans flocked to Westminster to protest over the unfair taxation levels imposed on the land based bingo industry. The amount of coverage meant the Government made a surprising u-turn in this year’s pre-budget report. Seems like Sudbury Council may be making a mistake if it underestimates its opponent – we bingo fans don’t go down without a fight!
