The "Scooter Bowling" Story

It was an ordinary day. Terry D. and I are on our way to bowl. Terry and I met at the Acme Supermarket where we both worked. He was a student at JP McCaskey and I went to MT. We enjoyed working together and we both enjoyed bowling. So, we decided to join the company team when they started one. We had a great time. We bowled ever Monday night during the summer at Rocky Springs Bowling Alley which was located in the south part of Lancaster. Terry averaged about 180 and I averaged about 125. Needless to say, he enjoyed bowling more than I did. Other members of the team included the assistant manager, a woman who ran a cash register and the butcher. To get there, Terry and I traveled through the city and down South Duke Street, past the cemetery, past the park and then entered Rocky Springs. Bowling started at 7:30 PM so we usually had an hour or more to spare after work ended at 5:00 before we traveled to the bowling alley. Tonight we went to the Fulton Bar for a sandwich and a drink. About 6:30, we popped our helmets on and Terry hopped on his scooter and I hopped on my Honda 90 motorcycle. Off we went. Through the city toward Rocky Springs. The roads were slick from a shower that started when we were in eating at the Fulton, so we had to drive a little slower. But evidently, not slow enough. As we approached the cemetery we were rounding a turn on S. Duke when Terry's scooter started to skid and he applied the brakes too hard and the scooter slid on it's side onto the side of the road by the cemetery. Probably the fact that he had his bowling ball strapped to the handlebars didn't help. Now this wasn't a crash type of accident since we really were traveling slow. Luckily I was carrying my bowling ball strapped to a carrier I had on the back of my cycle and I managed to stop right behind him. Terry had a few scrapes on his hands and tore a hole in his pants, but wasn't really injured. His scooter also survived with only a few scrapes. But.........the bowling ball and bag took off into the cemetery. Muggy and dark outside. Spooky cemetery. We found it behind a tombstone, hustled out of the cemetery and hopped back on our bikes and beat it out of there. Arrived a few minutes later at the bowling alley and everyone was interested in what happened to Terry. After explaining what had happened he opened the bowling bag to get his ball out and it no longer was round. The spill had broken pieces off the ball! "Let's see you bowl your average with that ball," I said to him. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.