Ask Mama Jong: Catering

I’m running a tournament this summer. What’s the most important thing for me to make sure it’s perfect for happy players?

Aha! This is a question people often get wrong. Nice, clean sets? Nope! Good tables with fresh mats? No! Skilled playing field and great conversation? Ha!

The answer is…food.

See, a mahjong player pretends that they use their mind to think. It’s all a lie. We actually use our stomachs.

Serving bento to satisfy the Japanophile market? Better not serve it cold or two days running!

Hot takeaway? They’ll complain that it’s not good enough quality!

Michelin star quality French cuisine? They’ll complain that it’s too delicious!

Sandwiches? Well…the less said about that, the better.

Curiously enough, for all the bad rep they get, it’s the vegan and vegetarian players who complain the least. Perhaps it is that, finally, everyone else is living in the same hell where nothing is what you want/can eat.

In the end, you’ve got to accept that no matter what you provide, someone is going to complain. One wonders why anyone even bothers trying to cater for this persnickety group of mahjong nerds. They certainly don’t care that you used your paid leave to organize a two day event, gave up a whole weekend, neglected your family and friends, risked your financial stability, all to give these strangers from foreign lands a chance to play their favorite obsession. Let them complain; it’s what mahjong players do.

I beg you, though. Please give them social play. It’s the only thing that shuts them all up.