Pool as a safety blanket / fountain of youth

Michael Andros said:
Yeah, this is going to sound absolutely ridiculous, but somehow, I have a feeling there will be some here who have some idea what I'm talking about.

As I've aged ( and for you youngsters out there, yup... you too. you're on the list: tick, tick, tick ), I've moved into that area and time of life where physically, little things are going wrong and, seemingly more and more frequently, the little things are becoming not-so-little-things. And, yeah, I deal with them, just like everyone else. And as the years flow by, I find myself thinking more and more about the inescapable truth that, eventually, and maybe even not-too-terribly-far-down-the-road, I'm not going to be around. Ok, everyone thinks about that at some time in their lives, I get that. But as you slowly move into the "twilight years", this stuff seems to become a bit more... real. A bit closer to home, as it were.

And, so, pool... and this is the ridiculous part. No matter what issues I'm having, no matter what little things become bigger things, I've discovered this sneaky, unexplainable feeling that, as long as I keep playing pool, I'll be ok. I have nothing, of course, to justify that. No doctor or philosopher or priest has said to me "Go... and play pool. And nothing will harm you." But, that said, that's exactly how I feel. It's almost like magic. I wake up, I think about what needs done today, then I decide what time I'll grab my cue, jump in the car, and head to the pool room. And I know... I KNOW, that as long as I can make it there, put my cue together, powder up and start making balls, nothing can touch me. Nothing can bother me. Nothing can affect me. It's just the Eternal Me and all those beautiful colored balls clicking and clacking as they roll around the table. It's an elixir and a medicine and it's potent. And nothing can hurt me or bring me down. It's my lifeline, in almost a literal sense of the word. My fountain of youth. Not to keep me young, per se. But more to keep anything bad from happening. And at my core? Without even trying to convince myself? I know it's true.

So, yeah... pool. My best friend. My doctor. My philosopher. My priest. And someday, hopefully way down the road, when I do check out, it will be moments after making that last nine in the side. I couldn't think of a better way for this movie to end. So, we'll see. With any luck, it'll be something like that.
Click to expand...

I thought about reading this post and wondered why I didn't comment the
first time. Maybe someone yelled at me from another room, the phone rang or
something else. As I'm now caught up in the struggle to get this body back in shape
while I'm doing battle with my abilities I know its coming click, clack paddywack. For
some reason I don't care as long as I can find a creative way to end to this game of
One Pocket. I wonder what is considered a higher purpose for the last half of the play when the final chapter ends the same way.
 
336Robin said:
I thought about reading this post and wondered why I didn't comment the
first time. Maybe someone yelled at me from another room, the phone rang or
something else. As I'm now caught up in the struggle to get this body back in shape
while I'm doing battle with my abilities I know its coming click, clack paddywack. For
some reason I don't care as long as I can find a creative way to end to this game of
One Pocket. I wonder what is considered a higher purpose for the last half of the play when the final chapter ends the same way.
Click to expand...

Certainly food for thought.
 
jimmyco said:
Feels like The Fountain of Youth for me. Every time I walk in the room, other than the counterman, I'm the youngest one there, at 60.

Just like eating at Cracker Barrel.
Click to expand...

Jimmy - At one time I *was* the youngest in the room. But then after what seemed just a few months, now I'm almost the oldest. Not quite, yet, but close...

The last time I turned around, I was 15... but I'm not really worried, I mean... I get a do-over, right? :eek:
 
lfigueroa said:
I understand what you're saying, particularly about aging :-)

But to be honest, for me, I don't find the pool hall the same safe haven you do. I do believe that playing the game, and in particular 1pocket, is of great mental benefit. Some folks might like crossword puzzles or sudoku, but figuring a three-rail bank while attempting to hide whitey for some dough will not only keep the gears turning but maybe also keep the old ticker vigorously pumping too.

In a different sense though, I have found pool halls to be immune to time. When I was traveling back and forth across the country and would stop into a pool room I'd visited, maybe five, ten years before, I was always struck by how the rooms were frozen in time -- the same look, the same smell, even the same guys playing on the same tables. Their hair might have been a little whiter, they might have a few more wrinkles, but then so did I. It was as if nothing had, nor ever would change. Very Twilight Zone.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...

I have done the same thing but I am noticing that the people in the pool rooms are waaaay louder than they used to be , everyone thinks they are hustlers and sharps, most are experts at all things and act like they are all tush hogs.
I think a lot of this is from the internet and video games, they get a false sense of reality and nowadays people either get killed and learn the hard way, or they don't get checked at all and start to believe the crap themselves.
They used to get out of line one too many times and someone would go out in the parking lot and give them an adjustment , not so much any more.
 
book collector said:
I have done the same thing but I am noticing that the people in the pool rooms are waaaay louder than they used to be , everyone thinks they are hustlers and sharps, most are experts at all things and act like they are all tush hogs.
I think a lot of this is from the internet and video games, they get a false sense of reality and nowadays people either get killed and learn the hard way, or they don't get checked at all and start to believe the crap themselves.
They used to get out of line one too many times and someone would go out in the parking lot and give them an adjustment , not so much any more.
Click to expand...

Yeah... nowadays, they'd call the police, then SUE you.
 
I think one of the things the majority of people stress over are the constant changes that happen in life. Some deal with stress and anxiety differently, and for most, it leads to unwanted behavior in their lives (alcohol, smoking, eating, etc.). One calming factor that may play into this equation for you is the fact that although they are all different, the feel and atmosphere in a pool hall has not changed over the years. Regardless of where you go and which pool hall you visit, there is comfort in the fact that you are going to experience what you expect.

Kind of like "Field of Dreams", and the quote, "The only constant is baseball".
 
Good post

As I was reading the original post it all seemed familiar. Pool has been a constant in my life for so long. If it went away it would be a game changer, so I too feel as long as I'm still shooting pool everything will be okay!

I've been riding motorcycles almost as long as I've been playing pool and I get the same sort of security from that. The main difference is that people aren't constantly trying to kill me in pool, as are the morons on their cell phones when I'm riding.
 
Oldest on there...

jimmyco said:
Feels like The Fountain of Youth for me. Every time I walk in the room, other than the counterman, I'm the youngest one there, at 60.

Just like eating at Cracker Barrel.
Click to expand...

I think I'm the oldest one there, that still competes or maybe not. I'm 76. I play a lot of Golf on a Snooker Table & enjoy that a great deal. I get in a 8-Ball or 9-Ball tournament, once in a while. I have more association with different folks, in a fair but competitive environment.

When I was young, my daddy (ex Snooker Player) told me to buddy up with the old man that plays good, he'll help you learn to play batter. Sure Nuff.

I have a few younger players that ask for help & I'm always glad to help out. No use taking ally my knowledge about the game, to the grave. That won't help anyone.

Anyway, I'm still having fun & still feel good....
 
cuenut said:
I think one of the things the majority of people stress over are the constant changes that happen in life. Some deal with stress and anxiety differently, and for most, it leads to unwanted behavior in their lives (alcohol, smoking, eating, etc.). One calming factor that may play into this equation for you is the fact that although they are all different, the feel and atmosphere in a pool hall has not changed over the years. Regardless of where you go and which pool hall you visit, there is comfort in the fact that you are going to experience what you expect.

Kind of like "Field of Dreams", and the quote, "The only constant is baseball".
Click to expand...

Point well taken, Scott.
 
Maxx said:
As I was reading the original post it all seemed familiar. Pool has been a constant in my life for so long. If it went away it would be a game changer, so I too feel as long as I'm still shooting pool everything will be okay!

I've been riding motorcycles almost as long as I've been playing pool and I get the same sort of security from that. The main difference is that people aren't constantly trying to kill me in pool, as are the morons on their cell phones when I'm riding.
Click to expand...

You're braver than I, mon ami... I was almost killed ( literally ) on a motorcycle twice before I was 20. I swore off them at that point and've never been on one since. And even though it was long before cell phones, morons are morons. Cell phones just make them MORE dangerous.
 
Anyone wanna add something to this? Feel safe playing pool? Or no...

And I'm *SURE* some will absolutely think my contention **IS** ridiculous.
 
Alma, Michigan Sanitarium
Billiards room 1895-1910
 

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Back in the 80's. I can remember going into plenty of rooms and
everything had this really old look to it. Then you get to talking to the bar keep and
yeah the place had been there forever, same everything, neighborhood place,
watering hole, social center. Don't make a bunch of noise, play, drink, eat if they had
food, socialize. I always liked that kind of place. Sort of a refuge from time.



lfigueroa said:
I understand what you're saying, particularly about aging :-)

But to be honest, for me, I don't find the pool hall the same safe haven you do. I do believe that playing the game, and in particular 1pocket, is of great mental benefit. Some folks might like crossword puzzles or sudoku, but figuring a three-rail bank while attempting to hide whitey for some dough will not only keep the gears turning but maybe also keep the old ticker vigorously pumping too.

In a different sense though, I have found pool halls to be immune to time. When I was traveling back and forth across the country and would stop into a pool room I'd visited, maybe five, ten years before, I was always struck by how the rooms were frozen in time -- the same look, the same smell, even the same guys playing on the same tables. Their hair might have been a little whiter, they might have a few more wrinkles, but then so did I. It was as if nothing had, nor ever would change. Very Twilight Zone.

Lou Figueroa
Click to expand...
 
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