The video made the ESPN Top Ten Plays.
ESPN: In a strange occurrence, a dance party broke out at a high school football game. Check out the moves by the referee. Ah yeah! Shake it! I wish I’d been there because those people were having fun. Shouldn’t high school football be just that?
We ended up winning the game 35–14 and were now 4–0. It was time to get out of Dodge and leave on a jet plane.
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I offered my travel companions the opportunity to upgrade from open boarding to business select, but they didn’t think the extra fee was worth it. Brandon was a seasoned traveler, so he didn’t hesitate when I offered. It got even more entertaining when the airline, of course, overbooked the flight. Since this was the last flight of the day to Atlanta, no one wanted to give up his or her seat. It was fun to watch the game of poker played as the boarding agents would up the ante on who would fly out tomorrow. When they finally offered two roundtrip vouchers, people began to fold and decided they could wait.
Brandon and I had big smirks on our faces when we boarded first. I didn’t want to think about my legs being crammed into a center seat towards the back. I think our flight attendants were half in the bag. Brandon was amused when one of them sat on my knee and greeted the passengers as they boarded. Alan took our picture, and I think he had it out on social media before he even sat down.
Brandon sat next to me, and a girl who had to be twelve at the most sat next to the window. Her siblings and parents were scattered all over the plane. I had no idea that Brandon was talking to his seatmate because I had other issues. My flight attendant had gradually worked her way further up my leg and now had her arm around my neck.
When the last person finally boarded, she got up and winked at me.
“Do you want to sit next to him? He’s between girlfriends,” Brandon said to the girl, and then switched seats with her.
I gave him a dirty look and then turned to my new center-seat guest, and she gave me a big smile.
“Hi, my name’s Danielle; you can call me Dani. Your friend says you need a new girlfriend. While I’ve never been anyone’s girlfriend, I’d be willing to be yours,” she said to the amusement of everyone around us.
I saw Brandon had his phone out and was videoing us, so he was saved from me telling him what I thought of his antics at that moment. I decided to ignore him and talk to my new girlfriend.
“Nice to meet you, Dani, I’m David,” I said. “I never have luck with women. Maybe you could help me out. As your new boyfriend, what would I be expected to do?”
“Well, first you need to hold my hand because I’m a little scared of flying,” Dani said as she grabbed my hand. “Then we need to take a picture so I can send it to Jill Stack. She’s this mean girl at my school who says no one will ever date me.”
I took my phone out and took our picture.
“Now you have to post it online and change your relationship status,” she coached me.
The people around me were enjoying this too much. I went online, posted our picture, and changed my status from ‘single’ to ‘in a relationship.’ Dani told me that she had to wait for her mom to log her onto her account before she could change her status. She did know how to tag the picture so our names were on it.
Then Dani began a litany of advice on how to be a better boyfriend. It was interesting to hear what a twelve-year-old thought. It all boiled down to I had to be her friend and do whatever she said. Sounded like sound advice.
When we finally began to back out from the gate, our two flight attendants got ready to read us the safety information.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Southwest Airlines; after this flight, you will never fly with anyone else. Let me introduce my partner for tonight, the glamorous Tiffany.”
The flight attendant in the center of the plane struck a pose as if she were a Vegas showgirl.
“I am the fabulous Rebecca. Now I want you to all fasten your seatbelts low and tight to your waist as if it were my sports bra after tee many martoonis,” she said, which had us all laughing.
Rebecca continued a three-minute monologue that was informative and fun. Did you know that people leave dirty diapers in the seat backs? Believe me, I would be very cautious hunting for a magazine in the future.
After the flight settled in, I stretched out and fell asleep.
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When we got off the plane, I gave my new girlfriend my contact information. We waited for her parents and siblings to join her and then wished her well. I sent Brandon to get everyone’s bags. There had to be a price to pay for what he did. He took it well. Alan, the worrier, got into the cab line.
“I could eat something,” Wolf said.
“Why don’t we get our rooms and then see what we can find,” Jake suggested.
“I don’t feel like hunting for food. Let’s see what the hotel has to offer,” I said.
Brandon showed up with a cart with six bags on it. Alan had almost reached the front of the cab line. People gave us dirty looks as we joined him. I could feel the day catching up to me. We’d lost an hour traveling from the Midwest to the Southeast. My legs and back ached from taking a couple of sacks tonight. A good swim and soak in the hot tub sounded like just what the doctor ordered. Something I liked about the Ritz-Carlton was they were all about service. If you asked, they would try to make it happen, so even if the pool were closed, they would open it up for me.
Alan got us a van and we all squeezed in. After the cab driver loaded our bags, I tipped the cabstand guy so he would return our cart, then jumped up in the front and told the cabbie where to take us. Everyone was excited to be in Atlanta. We took the expressway to downtown and were quickly at the hotel. Brandon had reserved four rooms all side-by-side. The rooms were set up in pairs with a pass-through door that would connect the two rooms if need be. Brandon made the mistake of asking who wanted the other single. If it had been me, I would just have assigned them places, and if they didn’t like it, they could trade. Of course, I would have kept the single for myself. Ty ended up winning after a heated game of rock-paper-scissors.
I asked the desk clerk where we could eat. He said either room service or the hotel bar.
The pass-through doors were in between a single and a double room. That made sense if a family traveled together. I opened my door and found Jim and Brandon sharing a room. That meant Ty’s room connected with Alan and Jake’s room.
We all went downstairs, and the desk clerk directed us to the bar. It had a sophisticated red and black theme. We found a table in the corner big enough for all of us. The barroom was full of people either having a fun weekend or going to the game. There were a couple of tables of Alabama fans. At the bar, there was a young woman in a little black dress being chatted up by two older men with Alabama polo shirts. I looked at Brandon.
“Do you think?” I asked, and nodded towards the bar.
He grinned and shook his head at me. Leave it to Alan.
“What’re you talking about?”
I was saved when the server showed up, took our drink orders, and brought us menus. I glanced at the prices and saw it was $18 for a hamburger. I knew my guys weren’t used to big-city hotel prices.
“Get what you want. I’ll put it on my room bill,” I told them.
I didn’t want them to blow half their money for the weekend on a hamburger the first night. I had picked the hotel, after all. I’d have to think things through next time, because I didn’t want them to think of me as an ATM machine, either. What I did want was to expose them to new experiences and for them to have a good time. They ended up ordering burgers. I got a salad with grilled chicken on it.
When I finished with my meal, I told Brandon to hang out with the guys and sign for the check. The young woman at the bar was alone by now. I’d watched the two men buy her a drink and then leave with smiles on their faces. I wondered if she was the front person, or if they hadn’t worked out a deal. When I got closer, I saw the woman was younger than I’d first thought. I’d assumed she was in her late twenties but now estimated early twenties.