Like a Nine-Year-Old's Birthday Party

The story goes that two roommates went bowling one night. They made a pact to maximize their mediocre bowling talents by setting a goal for combined score. If the sum of their scores reached 250 points, a mere average of 125 per person, they would commence with a preplanned ritual. In the event that they did not meet their set criteria, however, no celebration would take place, and they would merely return home defeated.

The two roommates rooted each other on throughout the game, but they struggled to follow a common plan. When one went hot with strikes, the other would cool with splits. Nevertheless, their combined score of the first game was exactly 250 points. As one roommate cooled his sore finger among the vapors from the vents, the other proposed that they engage in another game. With zeal, the roommate convinced the other to risk the celebration and enter into another game, with the same 250-point criteria.

The flow of the second game shockingly resembled the first, with neither roommate maintaining a stable streak of bowling excellence. In the final frame, Roommate #1 brushed off his first throw of a 1, and knocked down the remaining nine pins. To the alarm of Roommate #2, the scoreboard contradicted what actually happened, recording a game-over 8. After some persuasion, the lady bowling attendant amended the scoring error, allowing the first roommate to knock an additional nine pins down on his final throw and bringing his score to 125.

Roommate number 2 entered the final frame with a 107, eighteen points away from the threshold for jubilation. He stretched to the side, alleviating his sore ass muscle. After another visit to the vapors, he threw his 13-pound bowling ball toward the pins, knocking down 8 in the process. He needed to hit the remaining two pins, or any hopes for celebration would be forever abandoned in the alley. He succeeded by completing the spare, leaving him with one final throw, eight pins needed for a score of 125.

He knocked down eight pins with his final throw. Both roommates ended the game with scores of 125, which added up to a total of 250, exactly 250. With their goal met for a second time, the roommates made arrangements to celebrate their achievement. They returned to their apartment, drank malt beverages, ate a single Reese's peanut butter cup, and watched American Idol.