“That’s mean.”

I was told that a couple of times today. Didn’t matter. Someone even said it probably motivated me.

Shawn and I signed up for a racquetball tourney at the gym. I guess it was cause he was tired of beating me so much (he did win 5 games to my 0 games last Saturday morning). He got to talking about how he was gonna win the tourney even (even before beating me 5-0).

So we played today. The Tournament game. I don’t remember the exact scores – something like 8-15, 15-12, 11-10 (it was an 11 point tiebreaker, win by 1 during all matches tournament).

I was pretty pleased. I wanted to win, didn’t think I’d win, was pleased I won, though I felt losing hurt Shawn more than winning pleased me. He was distraught. I was just kind of pleased. I wasn’t overjoyed.

So I had to think about ways I could get more enjoyment out of the win.

I would have enjoyed the game the most, if I had played Shawn later on and been the force that kicked him into the blitz class.

As it was, it took Shawn only 5 minutes after the game to start talking smack to me again. He wanted to bet that he’d finish higher in the tourney that I would.

Which is a good bet. Cause I’m not gonna try as hard against anyone as I tried this morning against Shawn…as far as I’m concerned, the tourney has ended for me…I beat Shawn. That was my point. So it’s a good bet from his perspective. Except…that by betting, he’ll make me try harder against everyone else…that bet is still to be decided.

But the smack talking so soon did motivate me to get more enjoyment out of the win…when I ran an idea past Catherine. She said “That’s mean.” And she saw me smile. Then she said “That had no effect, huh?” And she saw me smile more.

So I created a free email account at some convenient provider, filled in the gym owner’s name and such, and then wrote a little email:

Shawn –

Tony at the front desk told me that we didn’t have the Hi-C schedule for you. Sorry about that. Just email me the scores and I will update the schedule for you.

He also said that he watched a bit of your match and suggested that the loser of the match might be a little overwhelmed in the Hi-C bracket. I won’t force either of you to change of course, but I think whoever lost the match might have more fun starting out in the Low-C bracket. I know this is your first tournament and didn’t know what bracket to start with. We see it every tournament. It happens.

Let me know what you think.

Cheers,
David.

I spent a lot of time editing the email, trying to make sure it didn’t have any of my phrasing or improper grammar. (Any improper grammar in there is supposed to be of a completely different style than my usual type…) And I sent it off. Then the waiting game began – when would Shawn check his email? Would he tell me?

Lunch came and went. I went to a talk with Brian, we had some car time together, I couldn’t help but tell the story. He said “That’s mean” too. That phrase must be catchy or something…

Afternoon became late afternoon. I needed to do something to find out if he had checked his email…so I asked someone to send him an email about dinner plans. And then, I could ask him to check his mail for the dinner plans, and then, well, then, he’d have to have read the email.

But he just agreed to dinner through IM. I wasn’t sure he was gonna check his mail. Prodded him a bit more. Had a meeting. Got out of meeting, then Shawn comes to tell me a story. Oh…oh yes, I was gonna start enjoying this win a lot more now.

He thought we both would have gotten a copy of the email. I showed him my inbox and said I didn’t have one…(wrong box, but who’s paying attention…) and so he started to tell me the story. About how he’s being told he’d have more fun in a lower division…how it happens a lot. It was sweet. The awkwardness of getting the letter, of sharing it, of not knowing I sent it…

I wish I could have held out longer. I wish that I could have not told him it was me right away. But it had been building up within me all day…it all just spilled out. I would have much rather had a long e-mail exchange between him and my fake “Dave” where I yank the chain just a bit more. But I have little patience.

Sigh. Sorry – I know we all would have enjoyed reading that email thread.

Now, all that’s left, is for Shawn to do the Blitz class!