The rules of the game!

I don’t know how your family’s conversation goes when you’re sitting around the dinner table, but this is how ours went the other night.

“Fifty boys went out for baseball,” My daughter said excitedly.

“Is that good?” I asked.

“It’s the most they’ve ever had. They’re going to have a great year.”

“Why did so many boys go out this year?”

“Two girls joined the team.”

“Is that why?”

“Yes.”

“What’s that about?”

My son-in-law popped into the conversation, “If there isn’t a girl’s team in a certain sport, then they can play with the boys. That’s why a girl was on the boy’s wrestling team this year.”

“I saw that. That doesn’t seem right.”

“That’s the rule.”

My daughter piped up, “Just ask David McCree how hard it was to wrestle a girl?”

“Was she that good?”

“No, just picture tall David, 177 pounds and a short girl, 177 pounds. There was no way he could take hold of her.”

“Did he win?”
 My daughter gave me a strange look, “Do you think David McCree would ever let a girl beat him in wrestling? I don’t think so. He wouldn’t be able to look at his classmates the next day.”

Then she said, “I won’t ever have to worry about Creede wrestling a girl as a heavy weight. There is no girl alive who would ever have her weight of 280 posted up on the board.”

“Well, what about that girl who was a kicker on one of the high school football teams this year?”

“I guess they had to let her play.” My daughter shook her head.

“Do you remember how you wanted to play football in high school. You went to the principal at Sandia High, and ask him if you could play on the boy’s football team. He said no. But if you want to play football, you should formed a girl’s team, and get the other high schools in Albuquerque involved.”

 “Yah, I remember. We formed a girl’s football team that year at Sandia. We got some of the other girls to make up a team from their school.

Then I told her, “I still have the full-page write-up in the Albuquerque Tribune. It had a picture of you on the football field. They had a reporter come to the school and interview you. Do you remember? You were determined to play football. You even went to the coaches and borrowed the boy’s old shoulder pads and uniforms. I thought it took courage for you to stand up and organize a team and get the other schools involved.

“I remember going to Eldorado High School and watching the girls play. You stirred up a lot of buzz. A lot of the people gave me their opinion after reading the newspaper. They thought it was outlandish that a girl or girls should be playing football. In fact, I had several ask me how I could let my daughter play football.

“I told them, it was better for you to be playing football with the girls, than be beat up by the boys.”

 Then I ask my daughter, “In hindsight, why did you do it? Did you want to play football that badly or because they said NO to you?

“Neither. I lost Homecoming Queen, so I wanted to do something. I just remember having my copper formal on the night before at the Homecoming Dance, and I was wearing football shoulder pads the next day on the field.”

“Well, it should be an exciting year with the boys baseball team. Those girls are going to add to the success of the team.” My son-in-law said.

“Well, at least it’s not contact sports,” I piped up.

“The boys could’ve joined the girl’s volleyball team this year, because the school didn’t offer boys volley ball.”

My daughter said, “Have you seen their short-shorts?”

“Yes.” My son-in-law said, “I’m surprised more boys didn’t go out for Girl’s Volley ball, they could’ve, you know.”

So there you go. You’ve been privy to our family conversation.

Final Brushstroke! Know when to take up someone else’s cause. You might be fighting for them, but they just wanted Homecoming Queen. You might not be able to change the rules. You don’t have to play if it goes against your convictions. You might have to take up another sport or form your own team.

Someone needs to put Baby in the corner!

We arrived at our family’s Sunday night dinner to hear, “SHHHH. Wait a minute.” Our daughter’s eyes were glued to the television set, “Wait just a minute, I want to hear Patrick Swayze’s say it one more time, ‘No one’s going to put Baby in the corner.’”

Patrick Swayze appeared on the screen wearing his black leather jacket. He was facing Baby’s father. There was silence, then the music began, I’ve had the time of my life. Then he said it, and took Baby to the dance floor.  We all swooned except our son-in-law who said, “What’s with you girls, men don’t pay attention to those things. I don’t remember hearing those words before.”

Our daughter said, “Daddy does.”

“SHHHHH. I missed it. Back it up, let me hear it again.” I took a seat on the couch and turned to look at our daughter. Her hair was wild with curls. I said, “What happened? You and Baby have the same hairdo.”

“Oh, I got a perm this afternoon.”

“Well, someone needs to put Baby in the corner.” I laughed.

“It’ll just take a little time to tame it.”

“It might take a long time.”

Talk about a man who will never be tamed. Al’s brother, David, was in town the next week. He was wearing his black leather jacket. I said, “Oh, you have a jacket just like Patrick Swayze. Are you mad at me for writing about your black leather and Karen with saggy knees?”

“You know I stay mad at you all the time.” He laughed, and then he said, “I’ve got a story for you.”

“If you tell me, you know I’m going to write about it.”

“I don’t care. I went out to this nice restaurant and bar in Albuquerque. I ordered a glass of wine at the bar, I noticed two girls across the dance floor. They were friends of my ex. I took my glass of wine and walked over to Kellie’s table. I knew her when she was married. I said to her, “Are you still married?”

“Yes.”

“Where’s your wedding ring?”

“It’s around.” She gave me a flirty teasing laugh.

“You better put your ring on, or I’m coming after you.”

She just smiled.

I interrupted David’s indulgence. “You’re a bad boy.”

“Well, I told her she better get that ring on or she was fair game.”

“David, that’s how you ended up single. Your ex was going out clubbing with her friends when you were married. She got involved with a married man and they broke up two marriages.”

“Yah, I know. But, I’m not married, I’m not doing anything wrong.”

“My Sweet Al says these women have more at home than they know what to do with. They’ve got a man who loves them at home and they’re out flirting with men who don’t care nothing about them.”

“He’s probably right. Speaking of ex’s. I was talking to Kellie when I saw my ex-wife over at another table. I walked over to her. She was with some guy. She introduced him as her boyfriend. He was probably fifty but he looked like an old man. He doesn’t look like he’s going to live long.

“I excused myself, took my glass of wine and went back to the bar. Just a few minutes later he got up from the table. His shoulders were rounded, and he was all hunched over looking at the floor. He shuffled across the dance floor to the restroom. I don’t know what she sees in him.”

“He’s probably loaded with money.”

“Probably.”

“What are you going to do about Kellie?”

“I asked her to dance.”

“David, you are a bad boy, someone needs to put you in the corner. As for Kellie, she’s a bad girl, she should be put in the other corner. Kellie will soon be just another ex-wife looking for something she had at home all the time.”

Final Brushstroke! They’re all playing with fire. My Sweet Al isn’t a Patrick Swayze on the dance floor, but he still causes sparks when he shuffles me across the floor. This is one Baby who’s not going to be put in the corner. I know what I’ve got at home.