Our bowling group here named DUMBO is a bright spot in the lives of almost everyone that comes to participate in it. Being an expat is a fun and exciting experience, but due to the fact that most of us don't end up speaking the language of the country that we live in, it can sometimes be a lonely experience and things like meeting up with a bunch of other people that also live in a similar situation to your own can be a great way to get some social exposure as well as get information and tips about life in a foreign country that none of us really know a great deal about. Oh, and you also get to go bowling, which is always a plus.
Time gets us all at some point or another, this is one of the great hardships of life. But when life ended for "Dangerous Dave" in the past week, it was a bit of a shock and of course a great loss to not just DUMBO, but the community and the world in general.
In the beginning, DUMBO started out with just me and two other guys going to the lanes every Thursday as a trio. We ended up having a great time and told other people about it and the next thing we knew lots of other people wanted to go. Over the years since the organization formed we have had more than 100 attendees. Had Covid not screwed up the world, the organization was growing so large that we had considered restricting how many people could attend each week because we were already occupying all of the functioning lanes and we were getting more and more people coming. It really grew really quickly and a very big part of the reason why that was the case was because Dangerous Dave got involved.
When it came to me and the other two original members, we didn't really tell a lot of people about it because 1: We don't know very many people and 2: None of us are involved in social-media.
Dangerous Dave changed all of that. He built a FB group for the group, talked to almost anyone he met about participating in it, and also built us a website that tracks everyone's stats in every week that they participate. Each week he would get a printout of our scores from the lanes and meticulously enter everyone's scores into it manually. I would imagine that this took a lot of time and he never asked for recognition of this in return. He certainly never asked for any money and just took on the job because he enjoyed DUMBO so much that he was willing to do this work for free. I admire this because I wouldn't have taken on this job and I am kind of the commissioner of the organization.
We had a pretty great turnout for the commemorative Danger Day, but we reserved lane 2 for the honor of Dave and no one was allowed to bowl on it. We put his shoes and his ball at the throw line of the lane which was the last one he ever bowled on, and it was also one of his favorite lanes at the alley.
Dangerous Dave was never one of the best bowlers and he stood very little chance of winning awards because he simply wasn't good enough. For many, this would be a good reason to not turn up very often but Dave turned up every week that he wasn't in the hospital or out of the country. He even turned up to the lanes each week when he broke his arm and cheered other people on (with one hand) for nearly 2 months while he waited for his arm to heal. That's a level of dedication that most of us don't have in us. I know that I don't.
At the end of the day we had a gathering like we always do and we tried to not have it be all sad and somber because even though it is cliché to say it, Dave wouldn't have wanted us moping around and being sad because of his untimely death.
A long time ago when someone who was meant to be bowling in the championship didn't turn up because he was "sick" (he was hungover) Dave commented that "the lanes stop for no man." I think that this sentiment would have carried on in his mind regarding his own inability to attend, even though it was for a much more authentic reason than drinking too many beers on Wednesday.
Dave will be truly missed. His dedication to the organization has no match, even by me.
We permanently retired his all time personal best last week as well, kind of like how they retire a number for an important member of a basketball team in the NBA.
From this point forward a score of 158 will not be recognized by its number but rather by it being the Danger-Score and there is a medal for achieving this very high honor even though it will most likely be an accident when someone does it.