Do Not Disturb
He had just rolled his seventh strike in a row. Ten if you consider the 3 strikes he had in the 10th frame of the last game and his teammates, as well as my own, were politely clapping after each one just as we did when anyone else got a mark. In the 8th frame he left a nasty 2-10 split and at the same time I noticed my teammate shaking his head, laughing incredulously at his wife, who is also my teammate. Her head down, face red, avoiding eye contact with the man who’d just bowled a 2-10 split in the 8th. She had, unintentionally I am certain, jinxed him. It turns out that after the seventh strike she had gone over to him and bowed saying “We’re not worthy!” and I was horrified!
Of course she didn’t mean to mess the guy up. She didn’t shout “Noonan!” as he began his approach or anything like that. She was genuinely impressed and wanted him to know it. And she felt terrible about it afterwards. But, just like no one on a football team talks to a kicker as he warms up for a game winning field goal, you do not disturb someone in the midst of a perfect game. You clap politely after each strike, act as if nothing unusual is happening, mentally transmit happy thoughts if you are a nice person, and unhappy thoughts if not.
So to the guy on team Town Drunk, if you happen across this post, please accept my apologies on behalf of 101 Bowlers. Oh, and sorry we won all four points, but we really needed them pretty bad.