💾 Archived View for gemlog.blue › users › keviv › 1692705582.gmi captured on 2024-07-09 at 04:37:21. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

A seriously embarrassing moment

My wife and I periodically get together with a group of people for events we refer to as "pub", taking turns hosting.

One of the husbands shares my first name, has quite the fiery disposition, and I believe grew up in the US northeast locale conducive to becoming a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox and New York Giants.

I lived 90 miles north of NYC for 15 years, and became quite the New York Yankees fan for having lived there during the Yankees great, late 1990s run - what might be called the Derek Jeter Era. So of course I was familiar with the New York Giants in that era, although I grew up in fandom of a US mid-western team, having grow up there, and our discussions are typically sports related.

However, we're at somewhat opposite ends of the US political spectrum, and we somehow drifted into that eggshell-paved arena. Turns out he's incapable of not getting red-faced angry when experiencing opposing views/arguments. So when we somehow got on a related topic, he was soon alternating between bellowing and screaming at me.

I was fairly well along the "alcohol curve", which tends to make me "goofily playful".. but of course to anyone already upset with me it comes off as a thoughtless, taunting smugness... so my responses were definitely fanning the flames, and I wasn't giving a shit (*especially* for his being a "fucking Red Sox fan" (Yankees fans know why the "f-word" was necessary...)).

I suddenly felt compelled to jump onto the seat of a dining room chair - I'm talking both feet, floor to seat, which is neither easy nor advised for someone my age. But I landed it! <image of Olga Korbut throwing her arms back during applause of whatever Olympics that was>

And I was suddenly addressing everyone there, something to the effect of "Can you believe this guy is losing his shit over some silly political topic?!?!!", then announced my horrified wife and I were leaving, ended with a bow, and we went our way.

I eventually felt pretty badly about it, and apologized to him profusely the next time we met, and we wound up laughing it off, and became rather good friends.

Anyway, it's a weirdly fond memory for me. But also a good example of how quickly ego can become infinitely stupid.