Saturday

Have you ever noticed that everyone who bowls, whether they are professional or an amateur, such as myself, attempt to bowl in the same manor?  First they lift the ball to the height of their neck, then as they begin to step forward, gaining speed, they drop their arm past their body, letting the ball swing back, then they swing forward letting the ball go across the lane.  Like wearing bowling shoes, it’s “one of those things” that everyone just knows to do, even if they have never bowled before, they have seen enough videos of it to know that this is how people bowl.  Well, everyone I have seen, whether at a party, or in a professional team has done so, until today. 

It’s Saturday, there’s some wind.  The parking lot is full, but the Fish Bowl is relatively empty.  The lot services two other establishments, though, so that isn’t too unexpected.  Walking in today there is another party, this time in the far left corner of the establishment, on another set of lanes that also have railings preventing gutter balls.  They have pink and purple balloons marking their territory. 

Michael Jackson is playing in the background, and the smell is more metallic, less dirt-filled today. 

In three of the lanes that on Sundays are taken up by the professional teams there is a group that is bowling.  Unlike everyone else I have seen visiting this establishment, they bowl by grabbing the ball with both hands, they would swing forward, with both hands stiff, reaching about a foot out from their body, they would then swing back, still grabbing the ball with both hands, run forward, and then throw the ball, as they stop balancing on their left foot, with their right foot in the air.  At first I figured they bowled that way because of their age, the first one I saw go was an older man with a wrist brace, but then after a few turns a younger person in a soccer jersey came up to bowl.  Soccer Jersey looked to be in his mid-twenties, but he like the two older men that came before him, bowled with both hands, and ended in a crane pose.  They had their own gear, their own shoes, balls, towels, and even the suitcases, like the people on Sundays, and would polish their balls when the machine returned them.  Perhaps there’s more than one accepted way to bowl?

My time and Saturday observations did not end there.  For the first time since I’ve been going there the store where bowling equipment is sold was open.  Operating hours say it is closed on Sundays, an interesting choice, considering that the tournaments happen on Sundays.  Even more interesting, the store hours posted on the door stated that it should have been closed.  Even though it was open, and the lights were on, the worker there kept leaving to the billiards room.  He was an older man, heavy set, with a wrist brace as well.

Worker laziness is rampant here, until now I could only notice the ladies behind the counters, today they were the same as always.  It took two ladies to count the contents of one register, four others were gossiping, and only one was tending to costumers.  The store clerk put the same amount of attention into his work as well.

Perhaps the most dedicated worker was one I saw very few of.  Well, I assume he was working.  He was covered in grease stains.  Lanes 28 through 32 were closed, the lights illuminating them were off, and the pins were missing.  The only time I saw him was when he walked out of a black door at the end of the alley that leads to the area behind the lanes.  He walked along a thin walkway that ran parallel to the lanes, back into the main part of the Fish Bowl.  As if he was looking for someone he went to the billiards room, then to the kitchen, then finally to the billiards room again.  Looking disappointed he returned to work.