It's astonishing, after all these years, how difficult small talk is for Alex Trebek. Last night one of the contestants said that she had studied in Krakow and Trebek noted that it is a beautiful city and that he and his wife were there in the days of the Soviet Union and enjoyed a five course meal for the equivalent of $13. Now that capitalism has come that's no longer possible, he said. The young woman reluctantly agreed. What she should have said is that the city is even more beautiful today and that, back in the day, most of its residents could not have afforded Trebek's $13 feast.
