I was at dinner the other night, generally having a merry old time with a bunch of other people. It started out like many other meals, with people showing up on time, people showing up late (guilty as charged), and all sorts of chatter back and forth. Somewhere in the middle of all that, though, the outing took a sudden, and hilarious, turn: a bet was made.
I knew most of the people there, so it was easy to hop from conversation to conversation as the night wore on. On one of those hops, I overheard one of the people at the other end of the table comment that she wasn't going to eat much. She apparently hadn't eaten much for the rest of the day, either. To make matters worse, the first sip of her (alcoholic) drink had hit her surprisingly hard. Given all of that, the "I'm not going to eat much" plan seemed a bit dubious to me, so I suggested she eat more than a couple of bites of food.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought this way. Another guy farther down the table, and closer to her, also suggested the same. Hoping to impress on her how strongly he believed that she should eat, he blurted out, "look, I'll even pay for your dinner if you finish it." And, thus, a bet was born.
Now, you might think that he was just kidding or that he didn't really mean what he said. However, the fact that someone might question his sincerity clearly crossed his mind. To quickly, and decisively, put an end to any doubts, he took out a twenty dollar bill and put it on the table in front of her. Amid a few chuckles and a couple of squeals of delight, he repeated his offer. If there was any uncertainty whatsoever, it was completely gone now: game on.
Looking back, I don't know what compelled me to do what came next. Maybe I got caught up in the moment, maybe I just like a good bet, or maybe I just figured it was a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. Either way, the next words out of my mouth were, "you know what? I'll double down on that. If you finish your meal, I'll chip in another twenty." I didn't actually pull out more money and lay it out in front of her (I thought that was a tad gauche), but I threw in my lot with the guy.
The thought of a free meal, and then some, worked like a charm. She happily dove into her dinner at that point. Actually, it might have worked a little too well. At one point, she commented that she was really full, but then she took one look down in front of her, and went back to work. That was actually counter to the original idea, so I suggested that eating to the point of pain probably wasn't a good idea, either. Still, she was on a mission. Luckily, she didn't get sick or anything.
As soon as she polished off the last bite, I let out a good laugh, pulled out my share of her winnings, and handed it to her. She'd earned it. And I'd simultaneously managed to earn myself one amusing story in the process. Not too a bad a trade, I'd say.
I knew most of the people there, so it was easy to hop from conversation to conversation as the night wore on. On one of those hops, I overheard one of the people at the other end of the table comment that she wasn't going to eat much. She apparently hadn't eaten much for the rest of the day, either. To make matters worse, the first sip of her (alcoholic) drink had hit her surprisingly hard. Given all of that, the "I'm not going to eat much" plan seemed a bit dubious to me, so I suggested she eat more than a couple of bites of food.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought this way. Another guy farther down the table, and closer to her, also suggested the same. Hoping to impress on her how strongly he believed that she should eat, he blurted out, "look, I'll even pay for your dinner if you finish it." And, thus, a bet was born.
Now, you might think that he was just kidding or that he didn't really mean what he said. However, the fact that someone might question his sincerity clearly crossed his mind. To quickly, and decisively, put an end to any doubts, he took out a twenty dollar bill and put it on the table in front of her. Amid a few chuckles and a couple of squeals of delight, he repeated his offer. If there was any uncertainty whatsoever, it was completely gone now: game on.
Looking back, I don't know what compelled me to do what came next. Maybe I got caught up in the moment, maybe I just like a good bet, or maybe I just figured it was a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. Either way, the next words out of my mouth were, "you know what? I'll double down on that. If you finish your meal, I'll chip in another twenty." I didn't actually pull out more money and lay it out in front of her (I thought that was a tad gauche), but I threw in my lot with the guy.
The thought of a free meal, and then some, worked like a charm. She happily dove into her dinner at that point. Actually, it might have worked a little too well. At one point, she commented that she was really full, but then she took one look down in front of her, and went back to work. That was actually counter to the original idea, so I suggested that eating to the point of pain probably wasn't a good idea, either. Still, she was on a mission. Luckily, she didn't get sick or anything.
As soon as she polished off the last bite, I let out a good laugh, pulled out my share of her winnings, and handed it to her. She'd earned it. And I'd simultaneously managed to earn myself one amusing story in the process. Not too a bad a trade, I'd say.
Comments
Post a Comment