Play Ball!

Saturday, June 01, 2024

Yesterday, my friend Julie and I attended this season’s opening game. We watched the Bend Elks against the Walla Walla Sweets from seats high up in nearly full bleachers. Their game was pretty good, but we left at the top of the fifth inning because I didn’t have a warm jacket. (Here in Bend, when the sun goes down, the wind gets chilly.) I’ll go see the Elks again, next time wearing my new (official) Elks ballcap and new Elks t-shirt, and bringing an appropriate jacket.

I enjoyed seeing the game with Julie. She’s from Chicago and knows the Sox and the Cubs. She’s also a retired social worker. She observed the crowd around us, as interested in people as in the game. She pointed out relationship behaviors that showed people relaxing, bonding, and enjoying the game. In the noisy, busy stadium environment, her observations of family-like pleasantries spoke to the “human values side” of baseball.

About sociology and human values, yesterday, the department store where I work part-time said farewell to our manager, Lisa. She’s happily moving on in her career but she was in tears throughout her crew’s goodbye.

A wonderful leader, Lisa is alert and smart, quick-moving, technically capable, and people-oriented. She knows everybody who works in the store and likes us all, and she manages efficiently and effectively overall.

Here we all were yesterday. Lisa is in the middle, identified by a big, shiny necklace.

Dear Friends: After a memorable day off, I’ll be working and adapting to change today. Diana