Joe is a Jerk

I hate to admit it, but sometimes I can be a pretty terrible person. Why? Because I can be unnecessarily judgmental towards people without even realizing it... and that ain’t good!

On Friday, I took my 80-year-old Father-in-Law, Tom,  golfing at Oso Creek Golf Course. Tom is going through an extremely tough time in his life because his beloved wife of 60 years is terminally ill. So I feel like I should get Tom out of the house once in a while to have a little fun and get his mind off things.

To me, a golf course is a perfect place to find peace and solitude. The grass is always so green, the trees so very lush, and communing with nature is a little bit like snuggling up closer to God. (Well, that’s my opinion anyway.) So I was anxious to spend time with Tom and let him breathe a little fresh air.

When we arrived, we were paired with a single, a man named Larry, making us a threesome, which is normally fine. However, after Larry introduced himself, and told us a little bit about himself, he continued to talk. And talk, and talk, and talk. Larry seemed like he might be an interesting guy, with an amazing memory. How do I know that? Because he told us at least a dozen old time golf jokes, most of which we’ve heard before, but we politely laughed anyway. I tried to be nice to him, but his constant noise was affecting my golf game, which went completely south on the front nine. The good thing was that Tom on the other hand was having the round of his life. So I tried to spend my time encouraging Tom and avoiding Larry, but that wasn’t really possible.

By the 17^th hole, I had turned my score around and just needed to PAR the last two holes to finish with a decent score. However, the whole time I was lining up my putt and stroking the ball on 17, Larry was stroking his gums and telling another stupid story. Needless to say, I missed the putt on 17 and walked away thinking, “Man, that Larry is some kind of jerk.”

I was really glad when the round was over, so I gave Larry a quick little fist bump and quickly walked off the 18^th green. However, he followed me to my golf cart, and quietly said, “I really enjoyed playing with you guys. I’m 82 years old and blind in one eye, so I don’t play well these days, and all my golf buddies have passed away. So getting to spend time with you guys at this beautiful golf course was a real treat for me. Thank you!”

Did I say Larry was a jerk? I meant… Joe is a jerk!

You never know what people are going though. 

Each person has a story to tell. 

So instead of being so overly  judgmental. 

Why not just listen well.

~ Charmaine J. Forde