What was the category on the Dec. 20 edition of the American television game show Jeopardy that included a reference to Latvia?
“Stick out your mother tongue.”
Contestant Michael Kalk, a retired computer programmer from Austin, Texas, knew that Latvian is another word for Lettish, a member of the Baltic language group. The answer earned him USD 2,000, helping to boost him to USD 16,200 in prize money.
Too bad he blew all his winnings on a wrong answer in the “Final Jeopardy” segment.
Getting your luggage sent to Latvia is a penalty, according to a satirical look at holiday air travel by Amanda Kingsbury of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Texas. Kingsbury, the newspaper’s travel editor, proposes a game similar to “Chutes and Ladders” as a means to while away the hours when you are stuck in the airport. Called “Takeoffs and Landings,” the game has rewards and penalties for good and bad behavior.
One penalty, according to Kingsbury’s article in the Dec. 19 edition: “Skycap recognizes you as that girl who blew him off at the bar last night. Your bags’ new final destination: Latvia.”
The Latvian man now tethered to a life support machine in a British hospital apparently was attacked after a group of youths heard him and two other Balts speaking Russian, police said in their latest update of the case.
The 38-year-old man was stabbed in the head the night of Dec. 3 and now is in critical condition. Two acquaintances, a Latvian man and an Estonian woman, also were stabbed but were treated in hospitals and released, Latvian and British media report.
Police are appealing for tips from anyone who may have witnessed the attack, which may have been racially motivated.
“This was a vicious attack that has left a man fighting for his life in hospital,” Detective Chief Inspector Sam Haworth of the Greater Manchester Police said in a Dec. 8 statement.
The critically injured man had been visiting friends in the Pendleton district and was returning home with his acquaintances at about 11:15 p.m. when the attack occurred, police said. A group of teenagers overheard them speaking Russian, verbally abused them and then attacked them, police said.
The Latvian still in the hospital had only recently arrived in the Manchester area searching for work. The other Latvian and the Estonian woman have been in Britain for several years, the Manchester Evening News said.
