Ben's Rainbow Sack

In one of my trivia recaps, I mentioned Ben's rainbow sack and promised to elaborate on the story in a later blog. Well... today is the day for you to learn the entire tale of the rainbow sack! Grab a beverage, find yourself a comfortable seat, and settle in for the explanation.

Ben is big into hydration, which means he brings his water bottle with him to trivia each week. Last winter, he was using a large, blue, metal water bottle. It looked like a trusted friend, you know? It was dented and had obviously been with Ben for quite a while. The two of them had history. The problem with the bottle was that when it fell over (which was often; Ben would set the bottle on the floor and frequently bump it with his foot), it created a lot of noise. Because, you know, it was metal.

One of Ben's coworkers, Amanda, plays on another trivia team: Risky Quizness. Often times, Amanda brings her crocheting to trivia and creates things while she helps her team earn points. The evening that Ben's water bottle was making a particularly obnoxious amount of noise, I approached Amanda and wondered if she'd ever considered crocheting a koozie that would fit Ben's water bottle. She hadn't, but she wasn't opposed to the idea, and she instantly announced that if she did make a koozie for the water bottle, she'd use rainbow yarn and provide a pocket. I just needed to hook her up with the measurements.

This sounded like an easy enough task, but the following week Ben showed up sans water bottle! "Where's your friend?" I wondered, and then learned that it was in my school district's dugout. Ben had been on campus for a baseball game and left it behind. I asked him if he wanted me to retrieve it for him, as I'm on campus every single day, but he acted like this wasn't necessary. I knew how much the water bottle meant to Ben, however, and so the following day my third-period students and I took a mini field trip.

There was a moment of concern. The water bottle wasn't immediately visible as Ben had apparently tucked it up into a corner of the dugout, but my girls found it and pranced back to me, holding the container as if it were a trophy. I filmed the entire thing and sent it to Ben, letting him know his prized possession had been found. What I did not share with Ben was that I recorded the measurements of his water bottle and sent them to Amanda.

Weeks passed.

Then one day Amanda showed up at trivia and she had with her a rainbow sack! Not only did it have a pocket... it had a strap! Ben could wear it over his shoulder and go hands-free whenever he wanted!

That was the last time anyone from The Educated Friends or Risky Quizness saw the rainbow sack, though. At least face-to-face. Ben has never once brought his rainbow sack to trivia. Darren once suggested that he might be more inclined to use his rainbow sack if I stopped referring to it as "his rainbow sack," but I can't imagine what else I might call it. I mean, it is a rainbow sack. And it's his! For his water bottle.

Ben drove west this summer. Sometimes he's like a fictional character. I mean, he just randomly told us one night at trivia that he'd miss the next couple weeks due to traveling west. "Where are you going?" we asked.

"Oh, here and there," he informed us. "I want to visit my friend in Colorado, and maybe my brother in California, but I don't know if I'll make it that far. We'll see."

"How long will you be gone?" we wondered.

"Two or three weeks. I don't know yet," he admitted.

"Are you flying?" we demanded.

"Driving," he clarified.

"By yourself?"

"Yes."

"Do you have AAA?" I wanted to know.

He didn't, but he was intending to get it before he left. (Which he did.)

"Hey," I said conspiratorially to Ben, leaning over to pose a scenario. "Will you do me a favor?"

"What kind of favor?"

"Will you take the rainbow sack out west with you and take pictures of it in a beautiful location?"

He didn't promise to do it.

But guess what.

HE DID IT! The rainbow sack and Ben's beloved water bottle and Ben all traveled west together! And because he's a good person and team member, Ben dutifully sent photographs of his rainbow-sack clad bottle for me to share with the team on Thursday nights.

The End.