Last spring I drove up to Phoenix with my friend Laurel to visit her aunt and, since we both like baseball, to take in a Diamondbacks game. The stadium in Phoenix is one of those retractable dome things and looks like a huge ugly warehouse from the outside, but on the inside it's a sparkling and exquisite emerald, with the subtle, precise lines and angles of every well-maintained baseball field in the world. I enjoy the ballparks of baseball almost as much as the game itself. We used to go to games at Candlestick Park when I was a little girl, bundled up like Eskimos, my frozen little fingers fumbling with hot dogs, shivering in the wind and fog that rolled in like a Biblical plague off the San Francisco Bay. I can imagine how the players must have hated playing there in the cold and wind, but I loved the graceful curves and huge expanses of empty orange seats at Candlestick. It was a pleasant evening in the desert for our D-Backs game, so they opened the roof to let in the pigeons and dry sirocco winds. And not a trace of fog anywhere. One cool thing about the newer sports stadiums these days is those huge TV screens, themselves the size of the infield, where they show replays and funny random shots of people in the stands, including "Kiss Cam". Kiss Cam is where the camera zooms in on a likely-looking couple and displays them on the giant screen. The intention is that they then kiss each other, smooching for the camera and 30,000 snickering voyeurs, enjoying their 15 seconds of fame. It's all in good fun and it brings a smile and a chuckle to most everyone. Well, Laurel and I happened to have seats next to a couple of very nice young men with whom we struck up a casual conversation as the game progressed. They knew a lot more about the players than we did, and one of them even explained to me how to throw a slider. It's not that hard, you know, but the details will have to wait for another time. So anyway, there I was, chit-chatting away with my new friend, when sure enough, Kiss Cam found us. They saw us with our heads together, smiling and conversing pleasantly, and assumed, naturally enough I suppose, that we were a couple. There's something slightly comical about looking up to see yourself on a TV screen, 50 feet tall, with an entire stadium murmuring in expectation. I turned to my young man, he turned to me, we both giggled a bit nervously and I thought "Oh, what the hell ...". I was expecting a little peck on the cheek. We'd barely known each other an hour, after all. But nope, he went for the gusto. He pulled me to him and we lip-locked for several seconds. I was so surprised that it didn't occur to me to pull away, and in fact I have to confess it was rather pleasant. The young man was a very good kisser. And the crowd sort of went wild, as they say. When we finally disengaged, I blushed like a schoolgirl and I heard Laurel say something really profound ... I think she said "wow". I'm 44 years old. I've been around the block a few times and it's been a long time since I've been flustered by being kissed, but I have to tell you that that Kiss Cam incident gave me flutters for the rest of the evening. I just may have to take in a few more games next summer.
This is romantic and innocent fun, and an improvement over some of your other recent efforts, in my humble opinion.
I assume you're referring to the naughty ones. I thought they were kinda fun, actually. And by the way, this incident at the baseball game actually happened, those others didn't.
A full grown woman all a flutter...What a delightful thought! Well, did the guy ask for your number or what? ZW
