Tag Archive: office


Baseball Odds

Filed Under: Stories by Reader submission — 1 Comment
January 2, 2012

(Submitted by reader David Newell)

Three years ago I had a business trip to attend in New York. As an attendee I was to receive tickets to a Yankees game. Before leaving, I asked my young boys what they wanted me to bring them back. The older one replied a foul ball. But not just any foul ball, but one hit by A Rod.

Right, I thought to myself. I have been going to Dodgers games for 40 years and have never caught a foul ball – Ever!

So be it. We go to the game and come the 7th inning, not a whiff of a foul ball coming my way. I had already purchased two souvenir balls to bring back to the boys just in case. There was a bus leaving at that inning to take us all back to the hotel, but there was no way I was going to leave the game early – not just because I hadn’t caught a foul ball, but this was the last season before Yankee Stadium was going to be demolished – and I wanted to enjoy every minute of it.

So, 7th inning comes and goes, 8th inning comes around and sure enough A Rod will be coming to bat. I had recently read a book that had talked about visualization and the power of suggestion – so as he’s coming to bat I’m repeating a mantra of A Rod hitting a foul ball my way.

The next thing I know, he pops up a foul ball close to where I am. I can see by the trajectory that it’s going into the next section over, but if somehow everybody goes for it and no one catches it cleanly – I can play the deflection. So I run out of my seat into the aisle where I think I might have my best shot at this. Sure enough the ball comes down – no one gets it cleanly and it pops back up right toward me. It lands on the ground and I scramble down and swoop it up – and sure enough, there was my foul ball from A Rod.

I was so blown away by all of this, that I decided to keep the ball myself here in my office as a reminder to what the power of positive thinking can do.

Besides, I can’t really split the ball in half to give to each kid, can I?!

[EDITOR: Now that we’ve established this super power of yours, let’s get cracking on world peace, shall we? Or at least a lottery win…]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment

Got Smart!

Filed Under: Stories by Reader submission — Leave a comment
July 14, 2011

(Submitted by friend of the blog, Spencer Marks)

When I was just a wee lad, around 11 or 12 or so, I would go to my father’s office over the summer and work for him, doing little things, here and there. His office was on Wilshire Blvd., and our house wasn’t too far off of Wilshire, so I would jump on a bus to get to his office, and to get back home. One day, while I was sitting on the bus bench waiting to go home, there was this little old lady sitting on the bench next to me, and we started up a conversation. I asked her what she had done for a living (before she retired) and she said she had been an actress. I asked her if she would have been in anything I would have seen, and she said she had been in an episode of “Get Smart,” which to this day remains one of my all time favorite TV shows.

I asked her which part she had played, as the series was on every day (and by then in reruns), I had most likely watched every episode 3-5 times, and would know if she was lying! She described the scene, which I remembered, and I was excited to meet her! The bus came, and we continued to talk on the bus until I got off at my stop. I walked home the four blocks, and noticed from the TV guide that “Get Smart” was about to start in 5 minutes! I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t that be a GREAT coincidence if it was THAT episode?” AND GUESS WHAT?!?

It was a whole DIFFERENT episode! But it WOULD have been cool!

No, I’m kidding  … it WAS the episode, and there was my new friend! I was watching her just 15 minutes after leaving her on the bus (very much ALIVE, if any of you were wondering!) That remains one of the coolest coincidences EVER to happen in my life! Hope you all enjoyed it too!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Comment