A red lit pool table with a tall shaven-head man holding a pool queue

Meeting potential in-laws is always fun, and today I met another one for the first time. Yes, that’s right, my son’s girlfriend’s mother was visiting from Germany.

We took her out to Pizza Punks in Liverpool. We had planned to go to Einstein’s, but with the parade tomorrow, the streets were almost impassable, with heaving crowds, more drunken people than usual, and shady people on Bold Street selling huge canisters of laughing gas out of plastic bags.

The pizza was OK, then we headed for the downstairs section at Teddy’s - where the music was banging and the drinks were not at all cheap - at least it was empty and it had a free pool table.

I am usually the worst pool player on any occasion, but on this occasion, I beat all comers. I attribute this improbable feat to two facts.

  • That my immediate family and potential in-laws are all astonishingly awful at pool.
  • That the lighting in the pool area at Teddy’s is red and yellow, making it almost impossible to distinguish the balls.