When I was about 13 years old, I tried out for a local basketball league. Everyone who wanted to play showed up at a school gym and ran the same route while coaches looked on. We were given the ball at the free throw line; we were then supposed to shoot a free throw, grab the rebound and take off down the court. At the other end we were supposed to shoot a lay-up, rebound, then dribble back.

I missed every shot. In front of hundreds of kids and their hover-parents. How embarrassing.

I thought a lot about how to end this post and couldn’t decide on one, so I’ll make it a choose your own adventure.

(1) Don’t judge a book by its cover! I was awesome! The tryouts were just that: tryouts. Like Allen Iverson said (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDBR2L5kzI), “We talkin’ ‘bout practice, not the game…” Not really :) The truth is, I was not much better than tryouts showed.

(2) Embarrassment is a part of life. “That which does not kill us only makes us stronger.” You can’t live your life worried about what people think, so laugh about it and move on!

(3) That’s when I found my niche and switched to computers. I knew I was good with computers, yet I was obviously not good at basketball. It was logical to do more of the things I was good at. While not entirely true, that is how life unfolded.

(4) Social currency! Everything we do makes us more interesting. I think this makes for a pretty funny story, and, no, it’s not my most embarrassing moment.