Doing the Guy Thing

I'm doing a guy thing this year for Christmas.

Check the date, and you'll see that there are less than four shopping days left until Christmas. As of this moment, the number of people for whom I have to shop (as opposed to those for whom I shopped while with my wife) remains at four: my godson, my mother, my father, and the aforementioned wife.

Usually I take pride in doing the opposite of what is expected or taking the road less traveled. Some examples might be listening to rap as a white kid in 1984 (it was like me and the Beastie Boys back then, in terms of listening), or rocking to deep alternative music in the 80s. Yet at the same time, I did not have the wigger talk or clothes, nor did I shave my head, grow a mohawk or take on tattoos or piercings.

I still humor myself when I am in a riding in my car with a suit on and calmly listening to System of a Down or some other tremendously hard metal.

It goes a step further with taking the road less traveled. I simply do not like to take the popular route, thinking I have found some special treasure in a back road or a radio station like the deposed WLIR/WDRE (it was a big deal to be a cult follower of the Long Island station and being a New Jersey resident).

Let's circle back to the original point. I actually am going the popular route with regard to Christmas and waiting until the last second to shop. Yet at the same time, I love to go out and buy the gifts (not just leave it up to my wife) because I want to put some thought into it. I also like being able to shop quickly while the rest of the world struggles in the quest for expedience.

What appears to be a totally selfless act is, in reality, the exact opposite. It is an ego boost to unexpectedly give someone something they love and enjoy. Why not take the nice-guy credit if they're offering it? Sure, it's better to give than to receive.

It is most noble, however, to be able to accept a gift and find the appreciation in it. That is why I rarely fret when someone wants to pick up the tab; I'm flattered and honored to accept it when someone thinks I am worth it.

Then it becomes cool to pay it forward. A karma thing, I suppose.

At Christmastime, I am trying parlay the karma thing to set up the girl who cuts my hair with one of my former charges and friends. Someone was accusing me of playing matchmaker, and I do not see that as a negative. When you know two people you think might hit it off, it's just like a networking relationship -- hooking up people with common interests.

In this case, both are great sports fans, Irish and seem cut from the same cloth in terms of outlook. She says she hates to go to football games so early (meaning 1 o'clock kickoffs) because it does not give her enough recovery time from the late night out before. While he might not worry as much about popping open a beer at 9:46 a.m. in a frigid parking lot, I see their common ground as this: Why would you want to go to a football game without tailgating?

I like tailgating, but for me, the game is more important. I almost never imbibe when I am out there, certainly not to the inebriation point. Additionally, when my wife and I go to a sporting event, rarely do we tailgate. Thus is the basis for a wonderful relationship.

My better half also does a lot of other things to "complete" me, as Jerry Maguire would say. One came tonight, when she helped me put the (for now) finishing touches on my revamped resume. I need a resume to help me get more jobs, or at least a single job.

Right now I have forged back into sportswriting. You can catch me at Jets-Patriots this Sunday at the Meadowlands. My un-retirement came Dec. 4, when I covered a Nets-Hawks game. It was nice to get a taste of sports again, and the money will not hurt, either. I even have links to the stories on my resume and in this blog.

The next thing on which to work is a personal web site on which I can house live samples of my work and my resume. I just hope I am not pigeon-holing myself back into sports and scaring away those who think writing about other things is too boring that I would lose interest and not do a good job. (For more on pigeons, check out this and that)

Even the eternal optimist gains a modicum of pessimism after reaching 35. At least I have time to write a blog, no matter how long the layoff or how few fans will hit the page.

Just doing a guy thing. Is that a bad thing?