Stupidity is under-rated.
I spent at least 18 hours watching Tampa Bay Rays baseball in the last few weeks. That is more baseball than I have watched since I was 9. I know the batting order, approximate batting averages, and numerous personal anecdotes about most of the players. Sounds really stupid, I guess.
But what do you think is the first topic of conversation these days when the kids phone home? My DW, not a long-time baseball fan, now knows what an ERA is, what it means to have runners in scoring position. She knows a slider from a fastball, and knows my dislike of the designated hitter rule. She knows that I think I know more than the coaches and managers most of the time, and also knows I'm not to be taken seriously.
Our latest ritual is to watch a day game, and a big portion of guacamole appears in the 6th inning with a nice cold Negra Modelo.
Sure miss the smart old days. Not. Sure hope I can find lots of other ways to get stupid.
P.S. I even got to keep a few reminders of when I used to be smart, by volunteering in a charity clinic a couple of times a month. The patients are grateful, the students are entertaining and challenging, and I am superman because I work for free. My younger (and presumably smarter) still-working colleagues are the only ones with furrowed faces, rushing for no particular reason, whining about the latest bit of paperwork inserted by others into their daily duties.
