I’d like to think I’m an expert at several subjects, but the one thing I truly am an expert at is Scrabble. For nearly 15 years, I was playing at the very highest level and able to beat anybody with a few tries.

Although not quite at that level yet, when I was a senior in high school and had been playing for a few years, my girlfriend and her family repeatedly told me that while I may be good, nobody could beat my girlfriend’s maternal grandmother. I could be as sure of myself as I wanted, but they believed that I simply wasn’t at the level of the grandma. I ignored these comments for nearly a year.

Then it came time for the extended family to camp together, and somebody insisted on bringing a Scrabble board. After declining to play probably three times, I finally agreed to a match with this 70-year-old woman.

To say I slaughtered her would be like saying the Hiroshima bomb was a big firecracker. I scored over 500 points, to her 190-something. I calmly agreed to a rematch when she insisted I simply had lucky tiles (I did get all the good tiles, but that was because I knew it was important to use up my tiles quickly in order to have more chances of getting the good ones). On the rematch, it was just as bloody. And then again on the third rematch, except I believe the last time she got within 200 points of me.

I was calm.

But then somebody in the family made some comment about me having killer luck, and that on a normal day the grandmother would go head-to-head with me. I flipped out and went on a brief rant about how there was no way she was ever going to get close to touching me in Scrabble, and how it was ridiculous that I even entertained it. Completely tasteless on my behalf, and it affected my relationship with my then-girlfriend significantly.

But really, don’t challenge an expert after they’ve given you ever possible avenue to back out after they’ve explained the level at which they know their subject.