Unaccompanied Minors

If you've read my last couple of posts, then you know that Jared and I have been a little off schedule with our bowling outings lately.  We went bowling twice last week- first on Thursday afternoon, then on Friday night (with the youth for the All Nighter).  On Thursday afternoon, we showed up to a mostly empty alley.  Since school let out last week (for most about mid-week), I expected to see more people around, particularly children, and more specifically, unaccompanied minors.

Of course, the person who was working the desk wasn't familiar with us (because we were there on a Thursday, not a Friday), and stuck us between a group of unaccompanied minors (around 14 years old, I'm guessing) and a couple of moms with 4 small children.  Needless to say, both lanes were using their bumpers.  (What this means in bowling language is that they weren't good enough/consistent enough/didn't have good enough form to bowl without the bumpers.)  By the way, I would say that out of the 32 lanes that Circle Bowl has, maybe 5 were being used before we got there; but, again, the guy who was at the counter put us between the two obnoxious parties with a free lane on either side.

So, we began bowling.  Our bowling was pretty good for the most part.  Neither of us had a strike in the first game, which can get really frustrating.  We ended up bowling 5 games altogether.  I will post our scores as soon as I figure out how to do so.

When we first arrived at our lane, the group of 4 male and 2 female unaccompanied minors were snickering at us.  Jared and I both have bowling bags that hold our shoes and our two bowling balls. (Back story: at some point when we decided to start bowling every week, Jared wanted to get us some shoes.  It's cheaper to buy shoes once at around $35 than it is to bowl weekly and rent shoes for $4 each time.  So we went to the pro-shop to buy shoes; but they had a sale going on: shoes, ball, and bag for $109.  We took advantage of the sale.  Since then, we have each acquired an additional bowling ball and a new bag that holds two balls, instead of one.)

So, one of these obnoxious teens says, in a rather "Butthead" (from "Beavis and Butthead") sort of way, "Huh, huh.  Nice balls.  We really like your balls.  Huh, huh."  Noticing the very juvenile attempt at innuendo, I immediately respond with a large grin, "Yeah?  We like our balls, too!"  This was the first of many annoyances.  There was no lane courtesy at all in our games: the minors were very rowdy and had no idea about "waiting your turn" when you're about to roll (lane courtesy deems that whoever has begun their frame first has the "right of way" to finish the frame first, prior to another bowler on an adjacent lane rolling); the moms with young kids were constantly encouraging their toddlers to roll the balls down the correct lanes and often raising their voices in our backswing.  It was a distraction-laden hour of bowling.

All in all, we had a good time.  Jared and I are highly competitive and we usually end up arguing or fighting during a trip to the lanes.  And Thursday was no different.  We got very snippy with each other toward the end of the 4th game, but by the time we left, all was well.  It's a tough spot to be in when you and your parter both enjoy an activity but are also incredibly competitive in that same activity.  Feelings get hurt; words become sharp and pointed; and we often take this stuff personally.  And it certainly doesn't help when unaccompanied minors are present!