Influence

[brightncheerful]

I play badminton (club social standard) twice-weekly on Monday and Wednesday evenings, at two different venues (A and B). I replace my badminton racquet when one or more - at the same time! - of its strings break, whereupon I give the racquet to a badminton friend or the club. Occasionally, I get the racquet string(s) restrung so I can continue using it but generally I prefer to buy a new one, finding manufacturer default-tension best. (My standard of play doesn’t justify buying a racquet without strings - as top players do - and getting it strung to my own requirements.) Currently, I have two badminton racquets, each cost circa £154. I bought both racquets at the same time, but their spec differs. I intended alternate use of the racquets but find one of them (C) suits me better so the other (D) is used less often. I keep both racquets in their respective sleeves inside a holdall for carrying to and from a venue. When I arrive at a venue, I remove the racquet I am going to play with from its sleeve inside the holdall. In between games either keep hold of the racquet or put it down somewhere where I can see it.

Played at venue A on the Monday 12 February, but I didn’t go to badminton venue B on Valentine’s Day. On the following Monday afternoon late, at short notice, venue A informed that its venue wouldn’t be available that evening because of building works. The next time I played was on Wednesday 21 February: having arrived at Wednesday's venue B, unzipped holdall to remove racquet C only to discover no racquet. Strange, I wondered where it could be. No idea: relax mode, nothing, mind blank. I've been playing badminton on average twice a week on average for nigh on 35 years and never once during that time have I mislaid my racquet. Fortunately, I had the second racquet with me so was able to play that evening. Both clubs that I play at have a few racquets for players to borrow but since most of those racquets used to belong to me at some time I didn't really want to have to play with them again.

Later that same evening when I got home and told Mrs BnC, she was very upset. Her immediate reaction, bless her, was that someone must have nicked it. I ignore that trait in her: she can be into thinking the worst. I asked why she was so upset, when i wasn't, She said she was upset for me. Why, I said, it's just one of those things, I can buy another racquet. She insisted I voice what I did when packing up my things at the end of the evening at venue A. She said something I said about what I had done didn't make sense: I said it might not make sense to you, but it's what I did. We chatted for a few minutes until I got fed up hearing her emotion. I never find it helpful to be told I ought to be upset when I’m not. The only thing that bothered was that I could have done without the expense, Next day I made a note in my diary to buy another racquet the following week.

I concluded that racquet C had gone missing to encourage my using racquet D more often. On the following Monday 26 Feb venue A play resumed, I spoke to the manager and asked he would double-check: again in the rooms not open to the public and we had a good look round: no joy. On Wednesday 28th, played again with racquet D and was pleasantly surprised how pleasurable to play with.

During the week of the day I had earmarked to buy a new racquet, it started snowing. Thinking that Amazon’s third-party seller would not deliver the racquet during inclement weather, i decided to delay until the thaw. Also because I didn’t go to badminton on Wednesday of that week, we were snowed in, no hurry. The next Monday, 5 March, when I arrived at venue A, the manager said he thought he might have found my racquet. As well as make and model, I had described it as having a yellow grip, but actually the grip itself is black, the shaft is yellow. He’d found it under a chair in a room reserved for teachers at the school of which the venue forms part. He reckons one of the teachers must’ve picked it up on Tuesday 13 February morning and realising it was possibly expensive had put it under the chair for safekeeping only to have forgotten about it.

When I mentioned to a youngster friend that I’d mislaid my. racquet he said he’d be devastated if he’d lost his. Really? I said. Yes, he said. What amazed me that I was more delighted to have the racquet return than concerned to have lost it in the first place.

In the normal course, I wouldn’t waste my time, let alone yours for that matter, in telling this tale. However, the more I thought about it the more I realised that had it not been for the snow I would’ve forked out approximately £154 for another racquet only to find after the thaw that the mislaid racquet would emerge. Which has led me to believe that although I cannot remember not putting the racquet into the holdall, it had been remembered and would be returned to me.

I have a good relationship with the weather. As a gesture of goodwill, I apologise for any inconvenience you may have suffered as result of the snow having had to be called upon to require me to be patient and equally important to use racquet D more often.

[AleisterCrowley]

I managed about 20% of that before slipping into a coma.
Can we have the executive summary? Or the 'take-aways' as our Seniors like to say these days.

[Watis]

brightncheerful - you might consider adding a TL;DR summary to future dissertations.

For example: "TL;DR : I lost - and then found - my badminton racquet".

Usage is explained here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TL;DR

HTH,

Watis

[swill453]

For example: "TL;DR - I lost - and then found - my badminton racquet".

You missed a bit.

"TL;DR - Lost badminton racquet, subconsciously summoned Beast from the East to delay purchase of replacement until it could be found."

Scott.

[AleisterCrowley]

Some novels (from the last century and before) used to head each chapter with a summary of its content, thus;

CHAPTER 4
What a racquet

In which our hero loses his racquet, finds it again, and receives a mysterious offer from a stranger in the changing rooms

[DiamondEcho]

I read it all; clearly you are a person that goes about his day with care and precision. Perhaps that's why your wife was upset on your behalf - she was expecting that you'd be upset? [I'm not suggesting I know better than you *of course*, just how the facts strike me].
Great you got it back, the curious thing to me was why you weren't upset at losing it?

[stewamax]

"And the Second Lesson is taken from Paradise Lost, verse 1 through to the end"
Verger, wake up that chap in the second row.
Oh. Came for Sunday School and died of old age did he.

[scotia]

I realised yesterday that I no longer had my ancient Nokia phone which I last used in October. I have reported it lost - maybe it will now turn up under some chair.

[dionaeamuscipula]

I got: £154 for a badminton racquet? Jings.

DM (ex badminton player)