Sunday, February 6th, 2005:
I have to tell you, I am not a big fan of football. My boyfriend will sit and watch it all day long, game after game. College football, NFL games, whatever game is on; he and his friends will just watch football all day. If it isn't football, it's baseball, hockey, or basketball. Once a year, the biggest football game of them all is on; this is the Super bowl, of course. On the day of the Big Game, my boyfriend Tom always has some of his loudest friends over, and they spend the whole day drinking cheap beer and eating Cheetos and chips and a lot of other junk food. I am not a big fan of organized sports, and I would rather do something else on the weekend, like take a walk, watch a movie, or make love.
For Super bowl 2005, my boyfriend Tom happened to be away on a business tip in Seattle all week. I thought I would have the house to myself, and not have to deal with sports on T.V. whatsoever. At 2:00 he called me, and asked if his friends could come over and watch the Super bowl at our house even though he would not be home.
"What? You mean you want your friends to come over to our house and watch that damn football game all day while you won't even be home? Oh no. Please, can't they watch it at their own houses?" I said angrily.
"Well, the thing is, they all have small TVs, and we have a huge widescreen system with surround sound. Please, Miranda, they would really like it." Tom begged.
"I would rather not. The answer is no, Tom."
"Uh...I sort of already invited them over. I'm so sorry, but they kept pleading to let them come over. Robert, Carry and Patrick are all going to arrive soon. They will bring over lots of food, so at least you can eat for free tonight!"
I could not believe what I was hearing. My boyfriend had invited 3 of his obnoxious friends over to watch a loud football game in my own house, and he hadn't asked me first. I was so pissed off!
We argued on the phone for about a half hour. I held my ground, saying no over and over again, when I was startled by a knock on the door.
I told him I was hanging up, and that we would talk about this later. I walked downstairs, and answered the door. It was Tom's friend Carry, along with someone I didn't even recognize.
"Hey Miranda, thanks for having us over. This is Joe." Carry informed me, introducing a tall guy with a blonde crew cut.
"Hey, wasssssupppp?" Joe said. I cringed. I can't believe he just said "Wassssuppp" in that annoying tone of voice like they use in that Budweiser commercial from a few years ago. I rolled my eyes and reluctantly let them in. I resigned myself to the fact that they were going to be here all day. Carry is a heavyset guy, about 5 foot 8, with long brown hair. He was wearing a New England Patriots tank top, and carrying a case of Keystone light. They walked in the door and immediately made themselves comfortable. Feet on the nice oak coffee table, they were already on the red sofa within five minutes.
There was another knock on the door. Now it was Robert. He is Tom's most attractive friend, in my opinion. He is over six feet, well groomed, and dark skinned. He is from Puerto Rico. He came in with a bottle of Boone's Farm Apple wine. Where we in college all over again? Did adults really drink that cheap stuff? (We are all in out late twenties.)
"Yo, Miranda." He greeted me.
"Yo, Robert!" I replied in turn.
Though Robert was the most attractive of the group, he was also the loudest and most obnoxious of them usually.
"I need some glasses for the wine, Miranda." He told me. I steamed inside, thinking that I was expected to be the waitress too.
"You know were the kitchen is, Robert!" I told him in an icy tone.
Carry, Joe and Robert had the T.V. on incredibly loud, and they were watching some pre-pre game crap. I thought that it was bad enough that they had to watch sports for hours, but they also had to watch people talking about sports for hours also! I went upstairs, hoping to get some reading done and hoping to tune them out. There was another knock on the door. Patrick, I was guessing. The other guys answered it and let him in.
I lay down on my bed and was getting to a really intense scene in the latest John Grisham novel I was reading, and then they started yelling really loud. The game wasn't even on yet, and already the four guys were getting buzzed and yelling. This was going to be a long day.
I managed to read about 100 pages when the yelling got to be really loud. I walked downstairs. The first half was almost over. The four of them were camped out in my living room, with food all over the coffee table, and at least 20 empty beer cans all over the floor. Then out of nowhere I got a really wicked idea in my head.
I wanted to see if I could derail the game. What would it take to get four males to stop watching the Super bowl? Could it even be done? Remember, these were four huge sports fans. I wanted to see if there was any way possible that they could be enticed to stop watching the biggest game of the year if they had another choice.
"Hey guys! Enjoying the game?" I asked.
"Hell yeah! Did you see that pass? There was a 30 yard..." "Patrick, don't even try to tell me what happened in the game. Talking about interceptions, yardage, and punting is all Greek to me. You may as well be talking in another language." I told him.
My wicked idea was beginning to play out in my head.
"Guys, I'll bet you wouldn't turn off the game if I stripped naked right in the middle of this room." I said.
Now the cards were laid out. They had a choice. See the Super bowl or see me strip. I was dead serious, because I truly believed that they were so into the game that they wouldn't take me up on my offer.
"I'm sorry, but I am going to have to go with the Super bowl, Miranda." Patrick replied. They all agreed except for Carry.
Joe suggested that they would turn it off for a half an hour to see me strip. "I guess we could skip the half-time show, Miranda. We will turn it off for a half-hour if you get naked for us."
They were not getting this at all. My plan was to get them to turn off the entire game. I could see I was going to have to up the ante a bit.
"O.K., guys. I will give you all a hot lap dance." I challenged.
Robert responded "How much of the game would we have to miss?"
I could not believe these guys. They were being offered a lap dances instead of watching men run around and throw a funny ball in the air. And they had to think about it!
"You will have to miss the entire second half. If you turn it off now, you all get to see me do a nice long strip show till I'm nude, and then you each get a ten minute lap dance."
Carry agreed, and then Joe said "Hell, yeah! She's hot, I'll do it. Damn, I would have to miss the Super bowl, but Fuck, guys, she's hot and offering a Lap-dance!"
Now I had Carry and Joe in my pocket.
Robert and Patrick would not budge.
"O.K., enjoy the game! Lots of muscular guys running around getting sweaty, sounds like more fun than having my bare breasts in your faces to you guys, I guess!"