Olympic Discussion in a Sports Bar

It is August 8, 2008 – that’s 8.8.8 for all of you Chinese believers in the good luck that the number 8 is supposed to bring and the Beijing Olympic opening extravaganza was just being broadcast on U.S.TV, although the event has taken place many hours before.

Since I, along with millions of other people have decided to boycott the Chinese communist party, their occupation of Tibet and all the other human right outrages and absolutely, positively not watch the opening, or closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, I put on my very nice and controversial T-shirt, bought from Reporters Without Borders and instead of watching the opening of the Beijing Olympics at home, which the NBC television network broadcast at 8pm on 8.8.8, headed for my neighborhood sports bar, hoping to see Jenny the waitress again.

Before I even walked into the bar the T-shirt already attracted some curious stares from a group of people leaving the bar. I asked to be sat in my usual, smoking area, on the left, just started rolling my first cigarette, when I heard: ”Oh my God! I knew it would be you, who would have the balls to wear that shirt. Fortunately, all of the Chinese seem to be home jerking off over the opening ceremonies, so you shouldn’t get into too much trouble”. It was of course Jenny, wearing not only a big smile on her pretty face, but also a pretty tight and skimpy pair of shorts, in which I haven’t seen her before. ‘You look great, baby!” I blurted. “Thank you. Knowing you were a leg man and since I sort of suspected that you would be here today, I did it for you”. An ever bigger smile from her and an absolutely huge one from me. She really had great legs. Slim, but well muscled and arrow-straight. No knock knees, or bowlegs here, folks. Just the best pair of legs you could ever hope to lay your eyes and hands on. “A big Sam Adams, as usual?”, she asked. “Please and could you find me an ashtray, I don’t see one here?” I requested. “Coming up, honey”. I watched her from the back, walking away. Really, really prime. Good thing I came here again, I thought.

I looked around. Most of the many and different-sized TV monitors were tuned to the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. I didn’t look much, since I was seriously boycotting the opening, but couldn’t help noticing what seemed like thousands of dancers carousing through the stadium. Cameras showed some close-ups, of Bush in shirtsleeves, with a pair of binoculars in his hand, looking clearly bored and also crowds of almost hysterically happy Chinese spectators. I turned away from the TVs, just in time to finish rolling my cigarette, when Jenny showed up with a big ashtray and a nice, frosty mug of beer for me.

“Are you hungry,” she asked. “Not that much. Sit with me a while, grab a beer and I will roll you one of these cigs”, I said. “In a few minutes”, said Jenny. “I got to finish up a couple of things and I’ll be back”.

I took a sip of the beer and stared rolling Jenny’s cigarette, remembering that she liked it just a bit looser and easier dragging that I did. Looked around and saw her coming back. She sat across from me in the booth, with a beer of her own. I decided to do the old-time movie trick and put both cigarettes in my mouth and lit them with the Zippo. She laughed out loud. I took a drag on both and handed the one made for her, which I remembered to put into the right side of my mouth in order not to mix them up. Jenny took a drag, held the smoke a while and exhaled with evident satisfaction. “This is good, but seems like a different tobacco than last time,” she said. “It is that organic New Mexico American Spirit. I alternate it sometimes with the Drum and Bugler, when I can get it”, I explained.

“You know, after getting really disgusted with Chinese occupation of Tibet, Darfur and the 200,000, to 300,000 Internet police that they seem to have, I also decided to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics on TV. At first I wanted to boycott the entire Olympics, but decided just to skip the opening and closing ceremonies,” she said. “These are after all the main showcases of the Chinese Communist party. They really want to show the progress they have made during the past 30 years. While practically destroying their country,” I added. “I hear that in the entire wide Beijing region most of the major rivers are mostly dried out, that you drive over these long bridges, over dry river beds,” she said.

“That’s apparently true and despite the fact that they moved a lot of the polluting industrial plants away from Beijing for the Olympics, while polluting other parts of the country and reduced the automobile traffic, it is pretty obvious that the pollution still hangs in the air all over the place,” I said.

“When can you get off tonight?” I asked. “In about an hour”, said Jenny. “OK. Bring me that burger and we can get away from this endless TV coverage here. And lets plan to also boycott the Sochi Olympics in Russia. Now that Russia has invaded South Ossetia and its at war with Georgia and considering what they did in Afghanistan and what they are doing in the Caucasus, the IOC should have never given them the Olympics.” I said. “And unless China gets out of Tibet and actually, formally recognizes it as an independent country I am not only not going to watch their Olympics, but will make very effort not to buy their products,” said Jenny.

“Lets just go to you place and forget about all of those things, at least for tonight”, I said.

Filed under: Economy • Environment • General • Health care • Sports • olympics

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