Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2014 20:56:34 -0800 (PST)
From: Thomas Brauer <ender_wigginsx@yahoo.com>
Subject: "Freshman Basketball Boy"

Freshman Basketball Boy

This is just a good description of how i view someone that shows up at my
work from time to time. It's totally clean, but boy love is boy love... So
either way. Be careful... and enjoy!

-T
-------------------------------

Out of all the boys from the school, he is the cutest of them all...

I'm assuming he's 13 or 14, as he plays on the freshman basketball team.
He's a little shorter than the rest of his team. 5'1" or so. He's got
really short brown hair, and there's something about his eyes that i cant
explain why i like em, maybe it's his dark eyelashes that really make his
blue eyes pop, but damn... sexy as hell. And when he looks at you, i swear
his eyes just kind of pierce through you...

He always has this look on his face that says he might be up to something,
like he might be plotting something really fun and mischievous... like he's
a possible trouble maker... but deep down he's just a really good kid at
heart. You know, just another Catholic school boy that likes to have fun.

He's very social with his teammates. See to me, most jock-ish types have a
sense of pride in their team, and he is just oozing with it, but not in a
douche-y way though. Just in the boyish, "our team rules!" sort of way.
Right now, I only know several of their names, and only because he is very
vocal about calling them directly by name. He's a bit loud when he does
this, but not annoyingly so. To me it seems like he just wants everyone in
the room to know who his entire team is. In my eyes he is kind of like the
team's unofficial personal voice.


I don't think i've ever seen a time when he wasn't smiling. He's always
going at it with his teammates, and pressing their buttons just because he
can. It's always in a playful manner. They might act hurt for a moment, or
would fake 'taking offense', and counter with the strong "manly" personas
that they represent, and press his buttons right back, or just turn it all
around on him entirely where he suddenly finds himself having to take on
defense.. It's really cute to watch it when it happens. Entertaining
really...

They laugh nearly non-stop when they are together. To be honest it brings a
lot of positive energy into the place.

Personally, i think his teammates are all in love with him just as much as
i am, but i can only speculate...

I was a boy once, i remember how boys looked at me, and how i looked at
them too... At that age you think you're so covert, but the littlest signs
show only to a trained eye, and for those that can see (or are looking).
Well... You probably gave yourself away ages ago... So in my opinion, you
might as well have some fun. (Haha)

His smile is adorable, and when he looks at me i'm pretty sure he could
tell that I like him beyond the "I think you're just a cool kid", sort of
way.

He always engages me way more than the other boys do, and for no apparent
reason. Asking me questions like "After that long weekend, did you miss
me??". To which i reply sarcastically, (But part of me was serious) "Of
course i did, what's your order?"

No matter what happens he's always having fun. Seriously, his smile never
goes away. It seems like he just loves being alive. He's constantly in
play-mode.

Is he funny? Hell yes! His attitude and sarcasm keep you laughing
constantly. During some visits he'll start singing the lyrics of the music
that plays through the store's speakers. I think he does it to get me to
smile, probably because i always smile when he sings. Mostly when he does
this I try to make it seem like i'm just laughing WITH him, while i shake
my head a bit, saying something like, "This kid... He's always singing.."
(but psst... i like his singing voice. Shhh! Don't tell him.)

And regardless, I couldn't help it anyway, a cute boy singing just makes me
wanna smile.

One day he said to me, "You guys have good music here." This of course made
my day, because i always personally choose the music. You see, it's my
belief that the music we play has to specifically fit the customers we are
catering to at that time. I want to be sure the younger crowd enjoys the
music when they show up, and i want them to feel just as welcome as the
adults that enjoy the current contemporary pop garbage we play in the
afternoon...(Regardless if i like it or not.. I always take one for the
team.)

I manage a couple guys, and our job is to make food, and feed his face
whenever he, and his team show up. They come in on before game nights, and
before their weekday practices.

They really make the last hour of my day fun for me, even if the other guys
that i work with, do find them annoying... To me, when they walk through
door i know for a fact that it's not going to be this annoying rush of
asshole customers, on cell phones, unsure of what they want... These guys
are hungry, and the biggest reason why I get a lot of job satisfaction is
because i know for a fact... Boys. Love. To. Eat.

You don't even know how happy i am to serve them.

Every time one of them sits down to MAX on their meal, I would be
constantly scoring my own personal 3 pointers, knowing they would be
leaving with full bellies, completely satisfied, the first step in helping
them win their games that night.

Go Team!!

Whenever they stayed to eat, you could tell it was a bonding session for
the whole team too. They would chatter non-stop, laugh and yell at each
other constantly. Sometimes they would stand up in front of everybody to
tell a story, mostly being overly dramatic (because they could be), but
when the story sucked, the team tore em apart saying "sit down man",
sometimes throwing bits of food at them.

They would push each other around, and give each other shit. They would
tell jokes(sometimes dirty ones). Talk about girls. They steal each others
seats, and be like "bro you didn't call 'seatback'". They would sometimes
take each other's food when someones not looking, and laugh together (with
others) when the victim didn't realize anything happened.  Connect with
each other through their cellphone's games. They were a team, you could
tell just by how they interacted with each other.

Then they end each visit with attempts to sink their balled up trash, while
seated, into the garbage can 20-ish feet away across the room from
them. The whole team watches, making fun of those that miss, and get all
excited and scream those that could sink it. In a way the store became it's
own small proving ground for them. They ARE basketball players after all.

I watch all this playful banter, and male bonding happening every
day... And it sort of makes me feel like i missed out on something very
special at that age...

If i could go back in time to relive my young life, i'd drop everything in
a heartbeat, and totally play for their team...

The reality is though... I love my job. Even if it is just a shitty one in
the food industry, and the boys that walk in at 2:35pm are the icing on my
cake every day... They are definitely the sweetest part of my life. And
I'll never forget a single one of them.

Especially him...