Wanted to take a moment to give a tremendous shout out to Chip's Pickleball Club
23 days ago, I had dental surgery involving implanting two teeth and the recovery from this has not been going as expected. Issues surrounding flair ups of severe pain which doesn't respond to over the counter medicines along with chronic insomnia, exhaustion and dizziness have had a major impact on my life, and have caused me to miss over 40 hours of work and have further limited the other activities I've been involved in.
One activity which has been severely impacted has been pickleball. Although I have participated in a few open play events and one Crazy 8's event, doing so has been very difficult physically. The truth is that as long as I am managing the pain with appropriate medicine and getting enough sleep, I can effectively participate in some events, though I need to be very careful about this and really should only sign up for less strenuous events that I can leave at anytime without causing issue.
Yesterday, which was a Friday, I went to Chip's and arrived at 6:40 p.m. My trip there was because Crazy 8's takes place on Friday evenings. This is an event I regularly participate in. Well, I went to Chip's like I normally do, but there was a difference last night. The difference between last night and most other trips there was that when I went there yesterday, I was not coming as a participant but was instead coming as a spectator. When I got these, I went to the front desk and told them that I was there but that I was recovering from tooth surgery and wouldn't be playing. The woman I spoke to then said that it was good that I was there as a spectator because my name was not on the list of people participating in events. The woman at the front desk also addressed me by my first name and was very cordial in how she spoke to me. This was great for me because it feels good to be treated like I am "a member of the Chip's family". This is a great shout out to Jack Eickhof, the owner of Chips, and to the employees who work there because they definitely help make the environment great.
After saying hi to the front desk, I then went to the playing area and over the next 40 minutes, I walked around and engaged in various small talk with a variety of the people there I regularly see. The small talk was nice but it also had a twist because when the people would come up to me and would ask me the proverbial "How you doing?" question, I would come back with an honest answer; that tooth surgery was a bear, that I was struggling with recovery, that I had been to urgent care the day before and had had an emergency post op that very day. Not exactly what you would expect to hear. But the response I got back from those I told was always an honest and empathetic, "I'm so sorry to hear that". I would also tell them that I was being careful in my return to playing pickleball. I said that because there was an essential requirement in Crazy 8's that people who come play eight games that I wasn't going to try to do that for now. I also said that even though I wasn't going to play, that I still wanted to be there. And the response I got was a very nice one. They were sorry about the tooth problems and the impact it was having, that they hoped I would get better soon, that they were glad that I had come and that it was good to see me. And I said hi to Matt and Solina who had just finished a high intermediate match. Then I spent a few minutes talking to Samantha and discussed the impact of the tooth surgery. I said hi to Jacilyn then to Sam and then to David. Then, when Chris came, I learned that he and his girlfriend had moved in together. Then, at 7:00 p.m., Emma arrived and as I have not been to Chip's much in the past three weeks, we spent the next 15 minutes catching up on life.
And the point about last night and about these people and about Chip's is that these people are essentially my friends and are an important part of my life even if the friendships are all pickleball related and seldom involve anything outside of playing the sport. These people are my pickleball buddies and I have true and meaningful friendships with them in that context. I am proud to say that I know Matt and Solina and Samantha and Jacilyn and Sam and David and Emma. I know them and enjoy both playing competitive games of doubles with them and hearing about their lives. I love it when they encourage me and I try to do my best to encourage them. They are my pickleball buddies and a part of my life as a member of Chip's. The social aspect of pickleball has also become an important aspect of my life as a member of Chip's. It is for this reason I am posting another shout out for Chip's Pickleball Club in Eagan, Minnesota. read more