Expectations

Expectations -- we all have them ... some of us are 'glass half empty' and are hopefully often pleasantly surprised while others have high expectations are are on occasion disappointed.



Case in point: Two faithful readers have expectations of the blog that I'm finding quite challenging. One out of state reader expects the blog to be 'one laugh after the other' while another local reader expects the blog to be 'short, to the point, and no spelling errors.'



I too have expectations. I was so looking forward to golf this Sunday ... the forecast was for perfect July weather -- and it didn't disappoint. it was sunny, hot - but not terribly humid and there was a pleasant breeze off the sound. (For the fashion conscious - we were dressed in shorts and polo shirts -- looking very dapper.) I woke up at my normal4 am and was not able to go back to sleep (I foolishly set the alarm for 6:30, 'just in case.' ) I decided to clean my clubs -- (a bit of 'anthropomorphising' going on -- figuring a clean club would be a happier club and one that would perform better. I'll ask our psychology consultant to explain this syndrome.) I also had expectations of the 'compatibility' of our foursome since Les was on a business trip and Stu joined us. Stu is a childhood friend of ours - all of us growing up in Marble Hill. While three of us moved to Ardsley (Hartsdale to the purists in my readership), Stu moved across the bridge. For whatever reasons, our paths diverged and haven't seen much of Stu. I had certain expectations of playing with Stu - and will say with out reservation - that it was allot of fun. There was a down to earth, 4 friends catching up and sharing some of life's 'highs and lows' that we are experiencing. There was no 'one upsmanship' - other in the most positive of ways that no-one will likely 'by-by' two holes in a row like Stu did.



Expectations -- We are still having a hard time accepting that we are part of the 'regulars' at the golf course. It goes way back to the traumatic experiences we had as adolescents -- whether it was trying to play tennis on the public courts in Van Courtland park - where the regulars would make up the rules to 'keep us out' while they played for hours ... the best was 'if you clean the court you can play on it for as long as you want - regardless of whose waiting,' or when we would play racket ball at the New Rochelle Y -- and the regulars would literally 'shun us.' NOT ANYMORE. There was a controversy involving the starter (he holds the power of controlling the time people tee off .... for brevity sake - since I do take criticism of the blog being too long to heart ' I won't go into the details of the brew-ha .... but we were SINGLED OUT by the starter as he publicly proclaimed that our FOURSOME was ALWAYS early, ready to tee off and never caused any problems. I can speak for Rich and Barry when I say that even though we are in our late 40's .... and have a number of accomplishments that we can be proud of....but they pale compared to being given the equivalent of an A+ from the starter. Rich of course made sure the starter knew that we were 'squarely behind him' and I believe gave him his phone number in case he needed a witness. (The other party - who is clearly in the wrong - is an ADA and threatened legal action.)



The starter put us in such a good mood, that we also 'browned' the Ranger --- thanking him for doing such a good job of making sure there was drinking water on the course ... and giving him full credit for managing the traffic. Expectations -- playing on a County Course, on a beautiful Sunday morning, my expectations were that we were in for a 'long day' ... very likely to push up to 5 hours. Rather - our experience was like what we all 'hope for' but rarely experience ... returning on the GW Bridge and going right through the tolls without stopping .... we never had to wait and we never had anyone breathing down our backs. We played in a record 4 hrs and 23 minutes -- not being at all rushed.



Of course, my expectations of 'clean clubs' leading to 'great golf' didn't materialize ... as usual - more good shots than bad ... and certain in my expectation that next Sunday will come 'too slowly'.

Hit your drives long and keep your putts short.

Chip Out