The NFL season kicked off on Thursday with the Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks routing the Green Bay Packers 36 to 16. Just like that, the annual juggernaut that is More-On Trivia is back again.
This week’s matchup saw the Indianapolis Colts square off against the Denver Broncos. While convenience store workers in Denver went a near perfect 15/16 over the course of the four quarters, it was a contestant named Highlight from Indianapolis who stole the show.
Highlight is originally from the east African country of Eritrea, and, yes, ‘Highlight’ is apparently his real name.
“That's a cool name,” Glenn said. “Never heard anybody use the word ‘highlight.’”
“I think when I came out of my mom's womb, there was a big light,” Highlight explained. “That's why I'm called Highlight.”
While Highlight had trouble interpreting Pat’s Yoda impersonation and was unable to identify the number of sides on a pentagon, Glenn was particularly impressed with his answer to the fourth question: What is socialism?
“Socialism is a system of government which works in some countries,” Highlight answered. “Most of the government controls the economy and micromanages the citizens.”
“Highlight… we have been asking that [question] for two years. Nobody gets that right,” Glenn said. “That was like a political science essay there.”
Glenn proceeded to ask Highlight what he did before coming to America, and his journey turned out to be nothing short of remarkable.
“I was a science major student, but I read politics. I worked for international companies and would travel a lot,” Highlight said. “I used to work for the ICRC – International Committee of the Red Cross… And all those kinds of stuff.”
So what brought him to America?
“The conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. [It was a] terrible situation at that moment for my family,” he explained. “So I used to work for the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, and I was relocated to Kenya. I couldn't stay there. So I just traveled to the United States.”
As Glenn clarified, Highlight was able to bring his family to the U.S. as well, and they now live here safely.
“I'm glad you here,” Glenn said. “I hope you found us to be decent people and welcoming.”