I strive to stay on the sunny disposition side of my live-in ATM, just in case I ever need a hall pass. My pot roast recipe usually scores a weekend pass.
This past weekend I used one - - a pass, not the ATM.
I’ve done lots of stupid stuff in my life. I try to forget them. But that seems to be one vault in my memory bank that is fully functioning.
If mistakes humanize us then I have enough humanity to last two lifetimes.
I don’t purposely stammer something stupid in mixed company. I don’t consciously entrap my house to implode at inopportune times, just so I can prove I’m not related to Bob Vila, and am then forced to hire men with butt-cracks. I don’t purchase complicated self-assembly products made in China so I can create new words to add to my extensive profanity vocabulary.
When Forrest Gump plopped down $25,000 for a shrimp trawler, the seller looked at him and asked, “What are you, stupid or something?” To which Forrest replied, “Stupid is as stupid does.” Guilty as charged, robed one.
This past weekend I consciously, knowingly, with faculties in full force, added to my stupid list. I joined two buddies for a golf outing in Borrego Springs, California - - where, by mid-afternoons, the temperatures topped 120 degrees.
At my age this qualifies for the extreme sports competition.
When Michael Moore wrote his bestseller Stupid White Men, we three were not what he parodied, but the title stuck as much as our golf shirts.
My friends shall remain nameless, to protect their collusion, though not their innocence. Let’s refer to them as Dumb and Dumber.
The Dumber label belongs to the buddy who left work Friday evening and endured four hours of LA’s going-home, snail’s pace freeways, so he could get up at 6 AM to play golf in temps that reached 110 by 10 AM.
The humidity was so low the sweat evaporated by the time it broke through the skin pores. It was dryer than a Steven Wright comedy routine.
I seriously considered tossing clubs into the water holes, even after good shots, just so I could retrieve them. But I saved getting sloshed for the cocktail hour.
The wily coyotes lolled in their lairs while the desert bunnies bounded freely. The roadrunners walked everywhere, mocking the coyotes.
We drank a water bottle per hole, never once using the outdoor bathrooms (shrubs and trees).
As the guys’ weekend cook (the only reason I keep getting invited back), I didn’t bother igniting the stove. I sizzled the steaks on the patio pavement.
I would like to say that my reward for such bad judgment was a stellar golf score. I can’t. Some of my golf shots are listed in the “What the Hell was That?” golf shot Hall of Shame. You can add golf to my long list of engineering tasks I have never mastered, domestic or otherwise.
By the time we left, a cold snap was forecast for the next day - - 105 degrees - - which at least I scored less than.
I think I’ll pass on the next June pass, and make a pass at my ATM.
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2 comments:
WOW! That sounds like a fun outing!
Actually, I did something similar a couple years ago--I went for a hike on a sun-drenched trail when it was over 100 degrees. What could I have been thinking?!
I got dizzy, turned bright red, and put my deodorant to a real test.
You'd think we'd be wiser by now!
(Cue the music) Bud Light Presents....Real American Heroes. Today we salute you Mr. Playing Golf in 120 Degree Weather Guy.
Sure anyone could play in 72 degree weather and have great scores. But not you, you need to play golf with your buddies in the really, really hot weather (Chorus: Really hot weather guy...) Who cares about your underwear getting soaked and you can see them through your burmuda shorts (Chorus: See your underwear...) And then when you get home to tell the little woman what you did and she rolls her eyes - you tell her that next year the guys are going to lumberjack camp and use chainsaws!! So here's to you Mr. Playing Golf in 120 degree weather - This Bud's for you!!
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