Fiend at Court Unleashed
I continue to discover tennis artifacts scattered about the house during my extended stay with the Umpire Who Gave Birth to Me. Today’s object turned up in a cabinet under a sink. It is a metal tin with a nice early 80’s style custom paint job. “I’d Rather Be Playing Tennis.”
There used to be an independent business in this town back in the early 80’s that sold a wide variety of flavored popcorn. They had the usual pedestrian flavors of cheese and caramel as well as some that were less traditional. I seem to recall that Watermelon was my favorite.
In the modern tennis era, I would be 100% all in on pickle flavored popcorn. In fact, a quick glance at amazon reveals that it is a thing. I have got to start dropping my Christmas gift hints earlier in the season.
It was a very trendy gift back in the early 80’s to give custom crafted painted containers. I have been searching for a royal blue case with slots for 12 cassette tapes that I had in my youth. It had a “Rock Lobster” holding a tennis racquet painted on the lid. That object makes me fully appreciate that the B-52’s have enjoyed major longevity as a band. Alas, I think that cassette case is lost to history.
The sentiment on the popcorn tin resonated with me. It turned up in the middle of our recent mandated COVID quarantine. I could not go to the local tennis center to hit a few balls because to do so would mean interacting with the pro-shop staff which violates protocols. Contactless access to a tennis court isn’t available in my hometown. The Umpire Who Gave Birth to Me thinks that it was because skateboarders and other non-tennis use was damaging the surface.
At the same time, locking down all non pro-shop staffed courts makes it hard for casual players to give the sport a try. While the tennis court fees are relatively low here, it still adds additional friction to someone who wants to start playing tennis. For a first time player, interacting with the pro-shop staff can be intimidating. Even a $3 per person court fee can be prohibitive to some players.
This town used to be a tennis hotbed. That is no longer the case. I think that locking down the courts correlates to the start of the decline. It most certainly did not help.
In the meantime, I’d rather be playing tennis. Since I have officially come off quarantine, I guess I can.
