Happy father's day, Dad. On a day where I'm sure you'd rather watch the College World Series, you are going to hang with your family and let us celebrate a day for you. Thanks for everything you do for me. I don't forget.
There's always "that guy" in every situation.
So Erich calls me up Wednesday to go give Ultimate Frisbee a try. Well, neither Jennifer nor I had played before, but E assured us it would be a good time with his Physician Assistant school buddies. So Jennifer, being the wonderful wife she is, and I, being the good best friend I am, decided to give it a whirl.
So we venture over to the lovely fields at Salem College for a little outdoor exercise. When, out of know where, comes the 2002 US National Ultimate Frisbee team. These guys are decked out in their gear, they are running laps around the field to warm up, sporting headbands and talking in some Frisbee lingo. All the while, Jennifer and I are still trying to figure out the proper way to throw the damn thing.
So luckily, there were a ton of people and we weren't needed at the beginning of the game. The three of us sit on the sidelines and watch, as people are running all over the place shouting directions and some secret Frisbee code to their friends. Then, "that guy" shows up:
"Yeah, did you guys bring a dark shirt? No? Well, for your information, it's best to bring a light shirt and a dark shirt so you can play on either team."
So sounds like some useful information, right? This guy wasn't really offering the info to be helpful. It was more of that, "what in the hell is wrong with you? Why didn't you bring two shirts" tone. And of course immediately after this guy gets up to take some warm up laps, we all look at each other dumbfounded. But we let it slide.
E decides to be brave and play a little. I turned right to Jennifer and said, "I don't care what he does, I'm sitting here next to you as long as we are here." After about 10 minutes or so, e subs out and tries to convince me to play, assuring me that this game is easier than soccer … to which "that guy" takes just a little offense. I mean, you would have thought E just insulted his mother. Now, "that guy" wasn't really making the game enjoyable for anyone. He was taunting as if her were Dikembe Mutumbo waving off a blocked shot. After each score, he'd spike the Frisbee as if he were a wide receiver in the NFL … I was just waiting for him to break out the Icky Shuffle.
Needless to say, we didn't stay much longer. Instead we opted for a run over in Reynolda Gardens. Thank God too … I got no exercise sitting on the bleachers watching the Ultimate Frisbee tools.