Every year without fail, the place I work organises a bowling event for the workaholics who spend most of their lives working. Every year without fail, I do not submit my name. It wasn't any different this year... I did not submit my name but someone else did.
So when the group list came out the other day, I was a bit surprised to see my name there, listed in Group 19 with 4 other people from various other departments. My initial thought was, should I go? If I did, I might make my team lose. Yes, I have a very unfortunate condition called drainitis (or kelongkangan as I usually call it in our local lingo), where the balls I throw will somehow manage to enter the drains at either side of the alley. Nevertheless, I also found out that if members did not go for the competition, the whole team will be disqualified, and me being the person that I am, dragged myself out of bed at an unearthly hour to get to the bowling place in time so that my team does not get disqualified (but it's ok if we lose)
Right, so there I was, in line, got myself registered at the desk, found out that none of the team mates were there yet, and hung out with a few other friends while waiting for the lanes to be opened. When things finally got started, I was dismayed to find out that NONE of my team mates were there. None of them... what the hell? So, I went despite not wanting to, and all my team mates are not there so we end up being disqualified in the end. Is that a strange irony or what?
So there I was, the lone player in lane 19 (Lane 20 was almost equally as bad as only two members were there), and I played, and played despite the fact that the right side of my ribcage protested like hell. My score was miserable, and I somehow managed to hurt my knee by twisting it into a weird position. And everyone else from the other teams came by my lane and expressed sympathy at my playing bowling all by myself! Even when they took group photos in the end, I had to be alone with the Group 19 banner accompanied by a hot pink bowling ball.
Nevertheless, despite the setbacks, I did have a lot of fun watching other friends play in their teams (I think about 7 or 8 teams were disqualified due to not having enough members), and talking to people in general, shook hands with a couple of friend's kids, and cheered for some of the others... It was generally a good day!
Sucks that you've hurt your ribs and further hurt your knees..but at least you had a good time.
ReplyDeleteAnd how terrible that your team mates didn't show up. That is just poor form.
Cor, tis really ironic, but sounds like fun. I'm up for something like that, friends of mine have signed me up for the Hyderabad 10k marathon on the 30th, tune in to see how i try get out of that one!
ReplyDeleteOrhan: Yeah, the pain is a bit of a bummer, and the no show of the team mates as well. It's a good thing though that my workplace is like Cheers (the bar where everybody knows your name) or even if they don't it's very easy to strike conversation with someone. By which I'm trying to point out that yes, at least I had a good time :)
ReplyDeletekartik: 10K marathon? Definitely something to talk about. I will stay tuned!
and i thought i was the only one who manages to send them in the drains with such regularity
ReplyDelete"Bumper Bowling," that is the solution to your problems. I too am deficient in bowling prowess.. but when they fill in the gutter, i do surprisingly well! =D
ReplyDeleteIn any event, i'm glad you went and had fun.. though i hope your knee feels better soon!
That's just wrong.
ReplyDeletetazeen: we're so not alone on this. I think we actually may have enough members to form a support group. "Hi, I'm terra, and I suffer from drainitis"
ReplyDeletemike: lol! join the club... that said, I think the more we practice the better we may become. Prior to this, my last bowling game was 5 years ago! I'm glad I went, though... :)
travis: Well, what can I say?