Table Prize Frenzy

So as I have said last time, there is a little sub-plot going on at the wedding banquet.

Before going back to the banquet, we have to go back to Friday morning.
I have a pet Degus (used to be two but one is dead a long time ago) and when I woke up Friday morning, I found out that he passed away. I have a mix feeling toward his leaving. On one hand, I am kind of sad, I have him for almost six years already and the books/web-sites said that he could last as long as 10 years. On the other hand, he became quite troublesome as he got older. So we got less to worry about now that he is no longer with us.

Anyway, back to the banquet. So we walk to our assigned seat and BAM, there is a glass vase with a floating tea light and couple of gold fish swimming in it. At first, I do not put much thought to them, but as time goes by, and more “thoughtful” discussion by the two ladies (such as “Will the tea light kill the fish by heating the water right up?”), I start to feel sorry for the two fish. Judging from the companies, I don’t think they are interested in taking the two fish home. And as much as I heard a lot of good things about the bride and gloom (it is their wedding banquet, duh!), I don’t think they will collect all the unwanted fish. So at the end of the night, the probably will have a new home (or grave) in the sewer.

At the night went on, the thought of taking them back home become stronger and strong. Maybe they are godsend, maybe I am still affected by the death of my previous pet, maybe because of the “stimulation” from the two ladies, I have decided to take them home if I have the chance. But the problem is, they probably gonna be the table prize and there is no guarantee that my wife or I will win it.

So, we wait and wait and all the dishes is finished, even coffee and tea is served and there is still no sign of who gonna take the table prize. I start to wonder what should I do and it is already 10:30pm. The host does not seems to be announcing how or who will get the table prize anytime soon and the DJ seems to be preparing for the dance afterward. Lucky (or smart and handsome) for me I see that there is a gold red-pocket underneath the vase (glass vase, remember, knock knock) and that get my brain juice going. Just as I expected, the bride and the gloom will be having their first dance and all the lights go dim. When everybody’s attention are on the dance floor, I announce in a loud enough that you know that I talked but not loud enough to hear what I have said tone that I “Woooo, there is a red-pocket underneath the vase!”

Without waiting for any answer (not that they will stop me of anything like that) I take the red-pocket and open it. Much to my delight the paper only say congratulate the one who win the table prize instead of specify who win it. With part one of my plan done and there is nothing else to do at the moment, I put the paper back into the envelope and go enjoy the first dance of the newlywed.

So after the dance, I really am not surprise that it go straight to the dance, after observing the pattern of the banquet, letting people that leave probably never come across their mind. You know, it is Saturday night, half of the guests need to go to church on early Sunday morning that kind of stuff. They probably just gonna run the banquet like any other normal banquet, which means that they probably gonna announce the table prize at the end of the night. Since there is no solution to my little scheme, I feel kind of upset because I don’t know when I will be able to leave. Fortunately, the DJ is quite fun, and he drags every single one to dance by making everyone stand and dance around the table, which is kind of fun I guess. After the “table dance”, my wife and I go out to dance a little bit and when we to back to our table (which is like 5 minutes later), everyone is gone. Seizing the opportunity, I mumble to my wife “Let’s blow this joint” and we run straight to the car with the fish. We drive past Wal-Mart to get an air pump and set up a temporary home for our little friends. We get a bigger jar few days afterward and now they are comfortably living beside our kitchen window.

Moral of the story: Just because you are sitting at the pastor’s table, it does not mean you are not gonna have “fun”.