Getting There On Time

The team I have recently rejoined has always had a habit of getting to it’s matches early. Last Wednesday we all had at least half an hours practice before any of the opposition turned up and we were playing away! One of their lads tagged on to the end of the queue tailing back from the board and asked if we minded if he had a throw. As it was his team’s board we said it was OK. To be fair his team had only recently been forced to relocate at a new pub because their old venue had closed and they all lived a fair distance from the new pub. Having said that in the past my team has been at an away venue and playing games of 301 before the home team have arrived. The opposition have then turned up expecting to go straight on their board and been told that they would have to mark the board if they wanted to play! It has sometimes been added with a grin that the board would be open at 8-30 for everyone to practice as according to the rules!

On one memorable occasion my team had been practicing on the away board and at quarter to nine when the draw was supposed to be made, there had only been two of the home team present so we threatened to claim the match. If we had not been so soft we would have been well within our rights, but after waiting a few more minutes more of their players drifted in and the match started, all be it rather late. We have always felt it better to play a game if at all possible rather than sticking rigidly to the rules, upsetting everybody and claiming the match.

Drifting away from darts for a moment but still on the subject of getting there on time, I remember at one job interview for a sales representatives job I had once, the prospective employer asked me what my biggest fault was. Up until then the interview had gone well, but I was stumped what to say for a few seconds and then came out with, “My biggest fault is that whenever I have an appointment somewhere I always allow myself too much time to get there, arrive far too early and have to sit and wait for the appointed time.” It seemed to go down very well because the interviewer said “If that’s your worst fault I am very impressed.” However, I did not get the job and thinking back it may not have been such a clever answer because it showed that I was not very good at planning my time and journeys which was of course very important for a sales representative.