SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
Sometimes I think I’m antisocial.
At other times, I know I am. But when I’m playing sports or doing other physical activities, I seem to get along with people quite well. Those thoughts came to me the day after my partner and I returned from a holiday in the English Lake District.
We’d gone there to walk, climb, and ride our bikes in the fresh mountain air. We met other guests in the dining room of our bed and breakfast, and we talked with people in pubs, but my favourite times were spent outdoors. And I’m writing about this now because those memories don’t just involve the things we went for; they also feature many of the people we met along the way.
Out on the trails, we’d had long conversations with several strangers, and most of those people were happy and friendly. That surprised me at first. But now that I think about it, most of the friends I’ve had over the years have had something to do with physical activities.
Growing up, I made friends playing football, basketball, and baseball, and through high school, most of my male friends were teammates. Playing sports has also been a good way for me to fit in whenever I’ve moved to a new home.
It was basketball in Francistown and Nairobi, baseball in Cape Town and tennis in Gaborone. And when I moved to England, badminton helped me get to know new people. As a matter of fact, my partner ran me off the court on our first date several years ago and inspired me to take the
game more seriously. But not too seriously. I say that because I now want everyone I’m playing with to have a good time, not just my teammates. I’ve had that thought several times since I stopped wearing uniforms to play team games... especially when opponents at social tennis or badminton have gone all out to win.
And like I said, I had simi
lar thoughts the day after we got back from the lakes. That’s because when we turned up for our weekly social badminton session that evening, it was just Sal, another lady and me, so it looked like two against one, or alternating to play singles.
That would have been more running around than some of us had signed up for, but fortunately, the very talented Asian group on the next court had extra players and they offered to rotate in so we could play doubles.
Each of them could have won every point he played against us, so it could have been ugly. But they didn’t play to our weaknesses, and it wasn’t. Instead, they fit in and made the most of meeting new people.
The girls and I agreed it was one of the most enjoyable sessions we’ve had in years, and our guest payers appeared to have had a lot of fun as well. Okay, when we were playing across the net from one of the new players, none of us won a game.
But when I left the court for the evening, it felt like we’d won at something more important than a racquet sport. We’d mixed with new people and they’d become our friends.