Chaos at the lanes: I will not go bowling during Tet ever again

We should have seen this coming but we were thinking that based on how quiet the rest of the city is compared to how it normally would be that things at the lanes would be quiet as well. We couldn't possibly have been more wrong and it was a bit of a nightmare. It was so loud and crazy in there that I could not properly focus and I bowled like hell too. I'm fussy about my bowling environment but introduce a bunch of children and teenagers into a room with echoing acoustics and you have what I consider to be the worst possible bowling environment in existence.

The people bowling weren't being all that bad but the problem with this lanes is that it is surrounded by an arcade with a ton of games and even rides for little kids. This is exactly the sort of environment where I would have gone bat shit crazy as a kid as well so I am not going to blame kids for being kids - that is just what they do. I know that I did it. I just don't want to bowl in that shit

There was so many people in the shopping mall that I was surprised there were enough lanes for us to all play together and I was also kind of mean to the people that turned up late saying things like "how fucking difficult is it to be on time for this?" The reason why I lose my cool is because for every jagoff that turns up fashionably late we have to adjust the lineups on the lanes and this is a pain in the ass for us and the staff.

At the afterparty today I made an executive decision that anyone that feels as though they are going to be late on Thursday mornings may as well just go ahead and turn around and go home because we will no longer adjust the rosters for anyone who can't manage to be on time for this. It's not asking a lot and a vast majority of the people in the league do not have jobs so there is literally no excuse for this other than being selfish. I probably sounded like a dick when I was making this announcement but it is really annoying to me when adults can't manage to be on time for something.

Anyway, rage aside I also bowled like an absolute chump yesterday and this was quite the shocker after last weeks performance. When you're hot you're hot and when you're not you're not. I was on fire last week with my 178 and 199 but this week it just seemed like I couldn't do anything right. I can't blame it entirely on the poor oiling of the lane, but that was part of it. However, if I am ever going to be considered a decent bowler this is something I am going to have to learn to adjust with.

I was in the championship game for the belt and by using just past statistics, I should have won it: Instead I bowled like someone that has never been bowling before.

My first game started out terribly as I guttered on my first ball. I almost NEVER gutter. It was a sign of more suck to come though as I would finish out game one with a 122, which isn't terrible, but certainly not championship level stuff. My second game I got exactly 100 points and on my third game - at which point I was just getting mad - I bowled 88. This is the worst I have done in a year.

It didn't seem to matter how I adjusted my stance or my grip on the ball or even the ball I was using, I just couldn't make anything work. As I got more frustrated I started to get even sloppier and by the time I was in the back half of the last game I wasn't even trying anymore.

It was an embarrassing loss and the tragic part is that it is unlikely that I am going to face this champion ever again because of the way that things are set up and the fact that he is leaving Vietnam soon. I might be leaving Vietnam soon as well, not sure about that yet.

Anyway, the point of the story is to stay away from shopping malls during Tet because even though the rest of the city is peaceful and empty, it seems as though everyone in town heads to the malls. Lesson learned!