More Adventures at Bayside Bowl

Here is a recap of my last two days:

My first table of the night was four guy who were competing, two against two. Their first game was a tie, 136 and 136 to 134 and 138. A TIE! It was awesome. When they were ready to pay their tab, they gave me their credit cards in a pile and told me to just pick one, a credit card roulette. I laughed out loud. One guy said, this is my card. Don't pick my card. It was a smart move, because I really felt like I couldn't pick his card.  The other was an AMX, and we don't take AMX. Therefore, I had only one choice left (fourth guy came late, didn't eat, and only had two beers,) and ran the card. But to them, it was still a roulette and we had a good laugh about the whole thing.

Meanwhile, I bowled two pretty decent games, 110 and 117, which is where my scores should be every time. People come in all the time and ask how I bowl and I tell them all the time that I'm terrible, but those were better than my average. Though I don't have very many tables, things are looking up. Then I get a group of four bowling, they've been drinking at the bar, so they're feeling GREAT. So great, even, they leave me a fifty percent tip. Awesome.

There are some candlepin people bowling, drinking Bud Light and diet Coke. I can tell they're candlepin people, like hardcore candlepin bowlers, because they have their own shoes, but aren't friendly at all, and don't tip well. They're focused on this new and confusing world of tenpin and don't have time to talk to the waitress. There are also some guys who get moved to my side of the lanes, and they keep asking me the most annoying questions, even though I'm not their server. "Can we leave our stuff here while we go out and smoke? If we want another game can we do that here or do we have to go to the front? What does the red circle on the scoreboard mean? Do we close our tab with our waitress or do we go to the bar?" Me: "Yes, the front, a split, how the hell should I know." Then they spill their beer. SO ANNOYING. Oh, and it's brought to my attention that none of them are wearing socks with their rented shoes. At this point, it's like 10 pm,things haven't really picked up, and I'm thinking I wanted to go home. Or start drinking.

But luckily, Nate and Colleen show up with their wedding party and things get AWESOME.  Everyone is smiling, drinking, having a great time.  Colleen is making really funny jokes about how her husband is a douche for saying it was the happiest day of his life and rolling her eyes. There are two guys dressed like the Blues Brothers. I start getting beers for Elwood  and he tells me he wants to makeout with me just as someone I've had the pleasure of making out with on a previous occasion walks over and hears the whole thing. I can't stop laughing at myself and the ridiculousness of the timing. I love my job. Then I start getting beers for a bald man who was having trouble ordering at the bar. After I tell him that yes, I like MC Hammer, he tells me I'm HOT! Then an amazing balls to the wall Michael Jackson dance party starts, like, people dancing on tables and shit. I have a Bulleit bourbon on the rocks and go home.

The next night I skip dinner, roll a 126, and accidentally get drunk after work. I stumble into and East End bar at 12:30, run into a frequent customer from Maine Roasters. We have an awesome talk about life, death, marriage, canoeing, backpacking. I stay and hang out with the bartender for a while longer after they close, and make my way to the 7-11 because I need a snack. At 2:45 I run into Adam, the bartender from DTL, who has been serving me for years. I insist on buying his sandwich, refuse his cab, and stumble up the Hill. The next morning I woke up with a penny stuck to my ass, a "Do you remember calling me last night?" text, and a string cheese in my bag. My eyes are barely open, when I look down at my cat who's sitting next to my bed. We make eye contact, then in unison, turn and look at her empty bowl. New low. Great weekend.