Chow Down, Wide Load

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In the early evening, after scrapping plans to have a few drinks to celebrate the Yanks, I headed outside to drop off the garbage. From the garage I heard the shouts of Matt, Jake and Sam as they played ping-pong and laughed.

I had a serious flashback to my youth and playing with my brothers - we were a walking two-on-two game ready to happen - in every sport. The teams were always John and Jeff against Jim and me. We usually lost - first off because if we won John would kick the shit out of us, and secondly because Jeff was better than us - being the youngest didn't stop him - his hands were just quicker.

So, I headed to the garage. Jake was sitting out as Sam was playing Matt - obviously a distinct disadvantage for Sam, but you would have never known it from the chirping he was doing - "You suck!" he cried out just as I entered the garage.

"Let's go, two-on-two," I said. "Me and Jake."

The reason I chose Jake as a teammate was because I wanted to be able to control his emotions if we somehow fell behind - Jake is a lot like I was as kid - hating to lose - ever!

We started the game and I hit a slow serve to Sam, believing that just volleying a little would make it an enjoyable time for all of us - well, the little bastard ripped it back like a Chinese table top champion.

"One to nothing - get that crap out of here!" Sam yelled.

"Holy cripe," I said.

Matt laughed - "He has an unbelievable forehand."

For two games we lobbied back and forth with Sam ripping forehand after forehand just an inch over the net. If you don't know Sam, you have to picture it - he's nine years old and small for his age - skinny, short, and unbelievably active. It was shocking to see his hands move so quickly as he flicked the ball over the net.

The biggest thing on him is his mouth.

Thankfully we beat them, but only because Sam and Matt were having such a good time playing that they never really cared about the score.

As I walked from the garage, Sam was chirping at me.

"Yeah, keep walking," he called. "You don't want no more of this."

All that was missing was him calling out:

"Chow down, wide load," as his uncle may have said during a beer pong game.

Comments

deafjeff said…
Is it a sign of mental problems if you miss being verbally abused?
09 November, 2009
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