I used to think being good at pool was a life skill that mattered

Back in my early 20s I spent way too many nights at this dive bar in Austin trying to get my pool game sharp. I honestly believed that if I could beat anyone on the felt, people would respect me more and it would open doors socially. Then one night I got into a heated game with this old dude named Pete, and I won by sinking a bank shot off two rails. He just nodded, paid his bet, and said "cool, now you can pay my rent with that trick." I realized right there that nobody actually cares if you can run a table, it's just a way to pass time. I still play for fun but I dropped the whole idea that it made me impressive. Has anyone else held onto a weird skill thinking it gave them status and then found out it didn't matter at all?

3 comments

3 Comments

davis.noah4d ago

Damn man I felt that one, I spent like two years mastering the art of flipping bottle caps off railings thinking it'd make me the life of parties. Turned out nobody gave a shit unless it was a beer bottle they were drinking from.

avery_jackson4d ago

@davis.noah you opened up a deep cut there. Bottle cap flips are a lost art. People only care when the drink itself is involved. Took me a while too to realize that.

nancyn693d ago

Aw man that pool story hit home. What finally worked for me was just admitting out loud that I was doing it for attention and it made me feel kinda dumb at first but then I got over it. Once I stopped trying to impress people with some silly trick I actually started enjoying the game more for real.