Just one of those days where driving like a race car driver around the valley seemed like the right thing to do. It was almost a shame to go inside but it was Sunday time for bowling. It was back to what had become the home bowling alley. Just a place that never moved on like the rest of the world. No matter how long you were gone you just walk back in as if nothing had ever happened in the first place. Alex may have had some misplaced notions influenced by the paranoid conspiracy theories of the past.
He had been convinced that the California boys were some kind of agents. They were out of place and seemed like they had just read something out of a book but got some of the details wrong. Not the ruff handed hands on gardeners he was used to anyway. Alex was a blast from the past just like the bowling alley having trouble adjusting to the new world. He had always been well known for having the absolute best products and still was holding on but eventually the freight train of the legal industry would put the old secret gardeners out of business. He wasn't like his friends with their jobs, kids, and responsibilities. He had been told that kids were worse than their parents and calculated the potential jail costs he would be liable for until adulthood. It never seemed like a good idea at anytime for anyone. There wasn't a whole lot of jobs where you get to do what you want and complain about it. He wasn't about to destroy people's lives with harder substances. It wasn't time for any soul searching or over thinking everything it was time for bowling. The bowling alley reminded him of when people didn't post every thought they ever had. The digital world isn't as personal making it easier to say or write things normally kept private. Life should be like an episode of the Dukes of Hazzard full of adventures in reckless driving and behavior. Alex new going in that it was one of those days where he couldn't miss a spare if he tried. Jeff was on some kind of super rant with Dan and some unfamiliar bowlers that Jeff had sucked into his stories. He had made himself at home and had his own little following.
The place was busy there must of not been any major sporting events. Jeff's super rant had shifted to YouTube documentaries which meant some eye rolling by eavesdroppers. Jeff was plenty loud and his voice carried. His loud laugh embarrassed some people but seemed to draw people in and prepare them for good times. Definitely a bold personality with no real filter or thought of appropriate conversations. Not for the bubble person with comfort zones. Alex has managed to bowl over 200 two out of three games. He felt like one of those tropical birds out there strutting his stuff for the lady birds affection. Jeff congratulated him on a good game with a kind of jealous competitive undertone. Jeff liked to win but that is what competitive people do. After three games Alex got a burger. A bacon infused delicious piece of cholesterol causing a greasy sweating feeling in it's aftermath. As Jeff was going on about Free Masons or aliens the bowling alley legend walked in. He was the leader in the master's league. He was no stranger to the 300 everyone wished they could throw without trying. As he bowled they all watched. Even without looking the perfect sound of a strike crashed through the pins.
For someone who didn't seem like a person who could be a professional athlete this man was giving a how it's done lesson. Who knows what he did outside of the bowling alley he was king for a day on the lanes. Alex was a little less impressed with his own score but gave himself the used a house ball scapegoat. He didn't think his average was good enough to invest in a ball. The old bowling alley would probably die out someday but for now it was going strong. He thought maybe some diva would turn bowling into a fashion show with a bowling line of apparel for the fashionable. Bowling would become more of a look at me social event about how good you could look throwing a ball. Alex just laughed at the thought and the vision of the event. It was far removed from the 80'same peak of the bowling industry. Maybe autonomous vehicles would bring fun back to social events. It was always nice to have a good time without having to end up stuck somewhere waiting to be legally able to drive. The cars were going to drive themselves leaving the more important eating, texting, and other activities that normally distract us. The closest thing back in the day was a buddy had gotten out of his car on to the hood and was driving outside the car with no thought of what might happen if he couldn't get to the breaks on time. That or a horse was about as close to autonomous vehicles anyone had ever gotten in the hay days of bowling. The bowling alley hero even seemed to have an Ora that deserved some kind of slow motion double pistol finger point suggesting he is the man of the hour. Alex had the urge to get on some kind of snowmobile, ATV, or race car and give it all it has until the line between control and chaos was reached followed by a primate's chest pounding ritual.
As the Macho Man used to say "Oh Yeah!" before snapping into Jerky. This is why people like Alex shouldn't have a lot of money. If it were up to him he would get sky hooked after bowling and skydive onto a beach with sand dunes and awaiting ATV's all without spilling a frosty mug of beer. That old interesting guy would just have to leave a message about not always drinking beer. It was good to be back and it was starting to seem like he had never left it was just a day dream. He tried to get out but the bowling vortex had sucked him right back in. He listened to Jeff talk about watching documentaries on his smart phone about the government and hackers watching us through our smart phones.