Game 5 saw them win, but it is Game 4 which got entwined with our college toastmasters club, because naturally the core bed of students would be rooting for their team and they also gravitate to eating out. Contrast that with me that hates eating out, or visiting restaurants or sports bars - so when the group wanted to make it a club event, I had a choice to either be a killjoy or make a decision which says that the college club is more important, that I can sacrifice my individual inclination and engage in Rome as the Romans do.
Ironically Toastmasters founder created a club philosophy that was based on the individual a.k.a. :
While a sports bar that sells wings is a destination where I do feel like a fish out of water and I was more conscious that there is an age difference between me and most of the people in that bar, and more importantly I don't even drink - the act of being there simply reinforced that I think I needed to be there to support a club event.
Even as I was there, I was not shy about rooting against the Toronto Raptors, even though in any sporting situation on the "home" patch, and where people drink and can become rebellious is something that is done at one's own risk. I left at half-time with the notion that at least I leave with the Miami Heat in a winning position. What happens this Sunday for Game 7 is whatever happens, but at least in supporting the Miami Heat during Game 4 was a way of expressing my individuality, while showing my support for the club and therefore this group of college students. Pity the photo did not have the bar room televisions in the back-ground. I had ordered fish and chips and for $25 it was something I would not have ordinarily paid $6 for - such was the poor quality and presentation, but it was $25 worth investing in, if it means that this is the first social event I have engaged with the college club since I joined.
Thankfully the accent on Toastmasters being a place for the individual is good for educational purposes, and I recognize that in a socially engineered networked technology world, to accept the group as well - finding this balance is the lesson here.
M.