Member-only story
I Always Get the Callback. But I Never Get the Role
A personal, positive guide describing the reality of “close but no cigar”.
Jake served the ball low and hard to my right side. I shuffled my feet quickly and smacked the ball back, just clipping the net but still ricocheting onto his side. He approached the net, and spun a shot short, forcing me to come to the net as well. I sprinted forward and stretched out my paddle as far as I could. To an onlooker, it may have seemed like the ball hit the ground first, but it didn’t. I clipped the ball at just the right angle to hit it over the net passed a flat-footed Jake, who smiled at me and clapped his hand against the paddle. I had just secured a 5-point lead, and I only needed one more point to take the match.
Jake and I were in the midst of a heated pickleball match. With not much else to do during quarantine, we played three mornings per week, a great socially distanced activity. Essentially, pickleball is just like tennis, except on a smaller court with smaller racquets and a bigger plastic ball. I have never beaten Jake at pickleball.
Was today my day?
It was now my serve, and after taking a deep breath, I played a great point, but Jake ultimately ended up winning it. On the next point, I hit what I thought was the shot of my life…
