I was on the first tee today and paired up with a 2some. As I’ve played more often at my club, I’ve had opportunities to play with random members and I generally enjoy it. There have been a few times when a single declines pairing up because they want to “rush through the course”, but most people are friendly and inviting. What I’ve learned though is that, even sober, I’m great at forgetting a person’s first name as soon as they tell me. Today the two guys introduce themselves, and after a few pleasantries, I apologize and ask them to say their names again. Asking again is way better than not knowing it on hole 12 and it offers a sense of casualness and a “I’m human and make mistakes” feeling. It makes them lower their guard which can be surprisingly high when you are evaluating a person’s golf game and etiquette. I didn’t forget Justin and Mike from that point on.
On that same first tee after I had hit a nice draw down the left tree line, Mike said, “has anyone ever told you that you look like Michael Phelps?” I was caught off guard a bit because my brain started to think what Michael Phelps looked like. I know he holds the record for most gold medals in the Olympics, but is he a good looking dude? I wasn’t sure, and still am not really sure, but thought about it and moved on saying, “maybe once or twice”.
It kind of got me thinking that comparing someone to other people is dangerous. The first issue is if you do what this guy did and compare me to an ugly celebrity. Not real encouraging. The other issue is if I tell someone they look like Brad Pitt and instead they look like Brad Garrett, that’s not being honest. The final move you can make is one that Sam’s college friend did to me at Ursinus. He said I looked like Gary Busey.
I know a bit about Gary Busey and he survived an auto accident where he fractured his skull and received permanent brain damage. This was not a complement. This move immediately made me learn that I was dealing with an individual of low intelligence. It was Shiloh for all the Ursinus folk out there.
My point is that this is a dangerous game to play and I wouldn’t suggest it at the first tee. Even if you are spot on with the comparison, what are you attempting to accomplish? Boosting self esteem? Tell me I hit a good shot or you like my golf bag. I’ll like you more.
I know that posts like this are preferred over what I’ve been writing about in recent months. I feel that this website can be a voice for an opinion other than mainstream media. I understand it’s not popular to go against the grain and people will legitimately not like you for it. I’ve accepted that those people are not important. I’m going to bring back blogging to a more routine schedule and not shy away from topics. This should make it easier to go through the 6 day stretch before Sam asks you what item he should buy next.
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