The simple pleasures

My grandson asked me to take him bowling today, so off we went. I have a bowling ball, but no shoes; he had neither. Fortunately the alley doesn't charge for the ball, but they might as well have. We bowled two games each. The total was $24.75. What?

Here was the breakdown:
1. Since it was not prime time - 5 PM - we paid ONLY $3.75 per game. Total: $15.00.
2. Shoes: $4.75 per pair. Total: $9.50.
3. Grand Total: $24.50.

I'm getting too old. I worked part-time in the alley in Springfield, NJ in the late 1950s. The owner paid me $.25 an hour, and I could bowl for $.25 a game, or five games for a buck.

I even worked at the duck pin bowling alley on Route 22. You had to put your foot on a lever that raised up metal rods. Then you placed the pins over the rods, let the foot lever down, and sat back out of the way. I got a dime per game. That lasted all of one day. I could make so much more caddying at the local golf course. Bowling was another thing, though, for I enjoyed it, and we used to bowl for free occasionally after working a few hours.

I was told as we were leaving the alley that seniors can bowl on Wednesdays for a cheaper rate: three games for $6.00. Two dollars a game I can afford, and I might try that out a few times to see if there are any people I might enjoy getting to know. They also serve coffee and doughnuts . . . like I really need doughnuts.

I priced bowling shoes at Dick's Sporting Goods, Amazon, and a few other places. While the good ones go for nearly $200 a pair, I can get a pair of Dexter's for $21.00. If I bowled four times I could pay for them, based on the bowling alley prices.

Here's the good news. I have probably bowled less than 10 times in the past 47 years since we graduated. In high school I had a 172 average. Today I had the following scores: 97 (quit laughing) and 196. I had a turkey (three strikes in a row) for frames 8, 9, and 10, and a total of five strikes in all. That might get me out again, as soon as I sell some of that stuff in the attic.