The Strange Wonders of the Bowling Alley Gods
By Devin Baron
My girlfriend and I got invited to go bowling Friday night. More jaded than ever towards our current friendships, we saw this as an opportunity to foster some fresh ones.
Around the eighth frame or so, I stepped up and grabbed my ball and noticed “Empire State of Mind” playing. It triggered a memory, fond but strange. I pushed it aside, however, for tonight was a night for the present, not the previous. I rolled a 7, one of my better bowls of the night. I spun around to see Emma’s reaction, expecting some goofy excitement. Instead, I heard her singing the words to “Empire.” I could not push that aside quite so effortlessly.
That big city anthem played in my small town back when I had my first kiss. It forever accompanies that magical moment in my life, but it is also forever tied to thoughts of my ex, and those are far less happy.
That was not the only memory that came rushing as I sat down and waited for my next turn. I also thought about an elementary school bowling field trip. I thought about all my buddies in their school uniforms, singing “We Are Young,” and having a blast. I only know where one of those guys is now, and we have had our differences since then.
What was this?
These were not new experiences. I was not forging new connections with anyone in this group of nine or ten. These were old experiences. I was digging up the crumbles and ruins of old attachments.
Why were my ears, and in turn my thoughts, being confronted with these old situations? These old relationships? These things of the past? What was the universe telling me?
Was it saying that I might never escape the people in my past? Was it saying that even if I meet amazing people this sixth semester, it will not spare me from those I’ve done life with for the first five? Was it saying I will always grow apart from people in the future, no matter how wonderful they are to me in the present?
I sure hope not. I don’t know what JAY and Alicia, or fun. and Janelle, or any of the other bowling alley gods, were trying to say, but I did learn this: You should stay away from bowling alleys. You will not feel brand new, and the lights will not inspire you. You will not seem young, ready to set the world on fire. You may feel like falling down, needing someone to carry you home.