Old Habits Die Hard

The proverbial putts has emerged from the abyss.

Today's post is inspired by my recent encounter with Jeremy Lin, of whom I am a fan.

After seeing his tweet announcing an appearance at the nearby Foot Locker, I rounded up a few willing-if-slightly-less-enthusiastic compadres and stood in line for about an hour and half to meet my favorite basketball player in the NBA.

All the while in line, I knew it would be a brief encounter. A few words, hopefully a picture, and then on to the next. With so much time to prepare, I assured myself and my friends that I wasn't even nervous. I had three different things I could say to him, and I would calmly deliver one of them while taking a picture.

No sweat. No pressure. Isn't this even a bit silly that we're waiting for so long?

And then of course, we actually enter the store. And the power-tripping Foot Locker ex-refs are unnecessarily shouting and telling everyone to be ready, no pictures, move quickly blah blah blah.

And all of a sudden, I'm up next and I feel all rushed. I trip over my words, avoiding eye contact while simultaneously and sheepishly handing over my/his jersey to get signed.

I get a response, to which I don't even reply to. By this time, I'm feeling that time limit ticking, and I realize I haven't gotten a picture yet. So I whip out my phone and take a picture... of Jeremy Lin. By himself. No selfie game at all. He smiles, trying not to make the moment too awkward.

Sorry Jeremy.

And then it's over. Fail, David, fail.

Despite all my self assurances that I'd be fine, and that this wasn't a big deal, I reverted back to my nervous-starstruck teenage self. Sigh.

Just goes to show you. No matter how much you think you've gotten over old habits and tendencies, they'll rear their ugly head when you least expect it.

More than anything, I just wanted to have a normal conversation with JLin. In just about every aspect, he grew up just like me and many of my friends. And six years after I started following him during his sophomore year at Harvard, this is the epic failure that I muster up.

Ugh.