A sport I will not be taking up ;)

So a couple weeks ago we had a team event at work that I'm finally writing about ;)

The first thing was to *get* to the event, in our team-for-the-day.   Our team had two incredibly competitive people (to put this in perspective: I am *not* one of them...) so of course we had to get there first.  Note, this was not a race, but that apparently is irrelevant *g*

The weather was horrid so we took the PATH.  One of our teammates was doing the tour guide thing on the way, which was surprisingly entertaining.  Also -- we found a keyboard staircase?!?!  SO much fun.  I managed to convince a couple people to pause and play with me ;).  Then we raced to catch up to the competitive ones *g*

Eventually we got to the event. First.  By a long time.   But the event was ping-pong, so at least we could amuse ourselves while we were there.  Two of our team started playing and were *good*.  Lol so random - I somehow wasn't expecting that.   The only other woman on my team asked if I would practice with her.  We were HORRIBLY bad.  Lol I haven't laughed that hard in ages.  For one thing, ping pong balls are remarkably light...   We had them in the ceiling, off the back wall (3 tables away), in the bar -- and bystanders were definitely not safe anywhere near us.   We'd be gentle a time or two but then it would go slightly the wrong direction and we'd attempt to salvage it -- with too much strength.   We also bent ALL the rules -- if the ball went back to the other person is all that mattered.  It could bounce off the floor, the ceiling, another person...  Catch it in one hand and throw it.  All good.  So. Much. Fun.

I suspect ping-pong doesn't generally involve quite so much exercise ;)

But other people showed up and we'd been at it for a while so we handed over our paddles for a bit.   A while later I was watching two women I work with quite a bit playing -- and one in particular was *really* good.  Well apparently she was on her school team?!?!  Lol who knew.  Apparently ping pong (I'm sorry "Table Tennis") is a big thing in India.  And most of the teammates who grew up there had moderate to good skills.  And at least awareness of the rules ;)

So after watching for a bit a fourth person joins us and suggests pairs.  Sure, why not.  Well.  Apparently there are even *more* rules when there are pairs.  Lol -- and while I got the ones about serving, I could not get my head around 'hit the ball once, step back let other person hit the ball, step up and hit the ball again'.   This did not go well.  And my poor, exceptionally competent partner was getting very frustrated.  I think she gave up about when I hit the ball that had bounced off the floor back into play. So she decided this would be a good time to get another drink ;).  One player on the other side also wanted a break (this I claim is not my fault!) and I ended up playing with a very good player on the other side, but one who was highly amused by my take on the rules.   We definitely invented a new game -- I would hit it wildly, it would bounce off the floor somewhere, and he would hit it back so it would land exactly where it was supposed to on the table ;).  Lol -- he was playing real tennis (and getting the workout that goes with it!) and I was playing table tennis.  It was awesome, and highly entertaining.

The expression on her face pretty much sums it up ;). Also, this picture was the perfect top to the day

When it came time to officially play I lost every game.  Alas, I do not see a potential ping pong career in my future.  But the pre-game practice was more entertaining than anything I've done in a while.

Also -- this week, when one teammate threatened we should form a softball team, I reminded them of my pingpong skills and respectfully suggested that handing me a bat or ball would probably not be good for anybody's health ;).  Win.