paint ball fun.... (not)...

I'm not sure how I convinced myself (or neglectfully allowed it to occur). But a couple of years ago, about this time - I remember wearing lots of layers in a cold, dreary day. I found myself being lead into what was meant to be fun, in the form of a paint ball challenge. I am pretty sure I wrote about it, since the idea of deliberately shooting someone was really 'way out of my comfort zone, And the place it occurred was physically located in a geographical area I would not otherwise been in down in a very gritty weedy, neglected, industrial area of south Atlanta.

F., along with a group of co-workers were going on an afternoon of paint-ball fun today, so I thought I should go along. Adult supervison? Researching? Wearing most of the clothing I own, so bundled up, I probably looked like a cartoon character. We went in several vehicles, carpooling down to the long out-of-us trucking terminal/freight-hauling logistics center where the 'business' was located. It is so drab and neglected, it looks more like 'out of business'. Surrounded by a chain link fence, and vast parking lot of cracked asphalt, overgrown weeds, there is a shabby, concrete block, graffiti covered building. I remember thinking when we went before: the guys who were running the business looked like they lived in a dark, cold, dirty room there, heated with a wood-burning stove and scrap lumber, scrounged tree limbs. The atmosphere of the place is of total abandonment. Something that would make a great movie backdrop, as the last battle for control of the ragged remains of the world rages.

So... we waited and waited and waited for the guys who were supposed to be there to meet us at 1:30. Someone called the phone number and got a recording that indicated they are normally open at 2, unless you've made reservations - which had been done. With a deposit paid. So the sorry drug-addled bums should have been there to let us in. I suggested someone call the number of the security company that was listed on the sign attached to the fence, but better judgment prevailed.  But I  predict it would have gotten a quick response: possibly not the one we would have most enjoyed - but I'm pretty sure someone would have showed up!

We went bowling instead. A great idea: indoors, warm, relatively clean (except for wearing multi-person shoes) (and poking my fingers in a thirty year old bowling ball), with a much nicer place to put recycled beer than we would have found down there, behind a building that has a floor with so many blobs of paint from pellets it is gooey, sitting neglected in the weeds on the southside. We played three times -  and adjourned to Eddie's with eight boxes of fresh, hot, flavorful pizzas. And more beer.