Too Generous

So my alma mater played the Thursday night game, so we congregated at the bar downtown Minneapolis again.  Only five people (including me) showed up, which actually is an improvement from previous games.  Because turnout was so low I didn't snap a photo of us.  And besides giving a t-shirt to an alum who was in town all the way from Des Moines, Ia., on business, once again I had no reason to bring my box of free alumni stuff (sunglasses and pom-poms as well as t-shirts) because there was no on there to give it too.

Because it was a school night (and also because the club is struggling to remain popular -- maybe that has something to do with me, maybe I should blog about it) the other four people left before the game wrapped up around 11:30.  I, as President, had to stay to the bitter end.  Not that I minded; we won.  And I had the whole upper floor of the restaurant to myself.  Well, I did until late in the game.

Two guys come up, hang out, talk to each and glance at the TV screens showing our game.  Right before it's over one of them goes to the bathroom right behind me.  The other, who said hello to me while passing by me on his way to the bathroom, started to chat me up.  I didn't want to be an asshole, plus the game appeared to be at hand near the end of the game.

He noticed the box of free stuff, which I set on the table after everyone left in the group left.  "Oh, free stuff," I said.  "Like what?" the guy said.  "Oh, t-shirts and sunglasses and stuff."

Then he asked, "Can I take a look?"  Looking back I should have said no.  But again, he seemed nice, and again, I didn't want to act like a dick, so I gave him permission.

And then, after sifting through the contents of the box, he pulled up a t-shirt and asked, "Can I take it?"

Only now do I realize that at this point I was at a crossroads.  I really should have said no then.  The t-shirts are the most popular item to give to alums for free.  Also, I had only three of them, and they were larges.  I had received complaints from members (back early in the season, when people were actually showing up) that there weren't enough large and extra large t-shirts for obese Americans.  So the ones that were in the bo were specifically requested.  And now this guy, a man I had never met, asked for one.

I hesitated, so he continued rooting around in there and pulled up a drawstring bag and asked, "Can I take this?"  Those bags are less popular and I had tons of them, so I said he could.  But then he went back to the t-shirt and asked, once again, if he could take one.

I don't know why I said yes.  Maybe I was mistakenly thinking I had a lot, when I knew for a fact that I had only three.  Maybe he was being nice, or, in retrospect, acting nice.  Maybe I got so tired of him asking over and over that I wanted to shut him up.  Maybe I didn't think that anyone from the club would know, or maybe I thought that no one is going to show up for games the rest of the season, so why not give someone something that no one else isn't bothering to show up for?

So I said he could get the t-shirt too, which he put into the bag.  He looked at my puzzled face and probably could see the torment in my soul.  So he volunteered to give it back to me: "I know you want it back."  But honestly, at that point I didn't want to be seen by him -- a stranger -- as a liar.  So I stuck to what I said and insisted that he keep both: "Enjoy it."

My God, I am too generous, and so, so stupid.  I just gave some dude a t-shirt from the alumni club.  Now, when we come back in a couple weeks to watch our game, he's going to come around and thank me for the t-shirt, or worse, he'll be wearing it and show it to me and anyone from the club I'm with, all of whom will then turn to me and ask, "How in the hell did he get a t-shirt?  Did you give him a t-shirt?"  To which I'll reply ... by running away.