REBECCA ROOD'S MAILBAG.............................................................

• Dear Rebecca, My enjoyment of bridge has been considerably spoilt by the few recent experiences I have had at my local club. Can people be ruder and more arrogant than monomaniac bridge players? I just don't know. Indeed, I genuinely believe that these extremely unsociable players are sociopaths, if not psychopaths. What is your take on this? Yours still feeling shell-shocked, Ima Crab
• Dear Ima, I have had many letters dealing with this distressing problem of rudeness and bullying found within the game. Many bridge clubs are quite rightly very concerned, as such behaviour impacts badly their ability to keep members and attract new ones. However, it is my contention that bridge appeals to people mainly from the professional and managerial classes.......and it is from this background where sociopaths and psychopaths are often found. Therefore, it is inevitable that some club members will display character traits associated with these two undesirable types. Believe you me, you don't have to look far to find people who: (1) show contempt for others, (2) fail to perceive that anything is wrong with them, (3) display glibness and superficial charm, (4) fail to recognise the rights of others, (5) see only their self-serving behaviour as permissible, (6) adopt a grandiose sense of self, (7) feel entitled to get their way as "of right ", (8) live on the edge, (9) display an impulsive nature, and poor behavioural controls, (10) appear authoritarian, secretive and paranoid, (11) crave for admiration, respect and gratitude, (12) seek to control others. So unfortunately, you will find people like this in bridge clubs, as you will do in the work place. Behaviours like that are part of the human condition, which most of us (thankfully) are able to keep in check. So please don't let these people ruin your enjoyment of what is the greatest game on earth. Look upon them as insane, since they are by definition morally insane. Please don't allow them to intimidate you ever again. Just offer them your pity and your condolences. Yours always in the ascendancy, Rebecca