Do you mind ?!?

So last week, Thursday and Friday, my company sent me to the Western Open (you know, the Golfing 'event' at Cog Hill in Lemont, IL) to network with some customers...We had a great hospitality tent which made the Open feel like a cruise ship. We had a constant flow of food and liquor... Naturally, this is bad news.

After a couple gin and tonics during and after lunch on Thursday, I wandered out towards the white picket fences that separated the hospitality area from the 'rough' and even further from the fareway. Some guys from TOTO, the largest manufacturer of plumbing products (this is not a plug), were giving me a hard time for not being on their 'side' of the fence. I was in the middle of delivering a zinger of a response when I noticed, like, 20 pairs of eyes on me.... a guy holding a 'quiet' sign a couple yards from me...and a golfer (can you imagine) staring at me....

Quiet sign guy: SSSSsssshhhh!
Golfer: DO YOU MIND?!?
Me: (gulp) sorry.... (in the smallest voice ..ever.. and slowly placing both hands over my mouth)
Golfer: (glaring at me) hummphfff
Me: (mouthing) sorry (as I shot an accusatory glare at the TOTO guys who also looked pretty sheepish)

The Golfer (whose name I didn't catch) proceeded to hit his ball onto the green (finally!!) and stomped away, indignantly.

**In my defense, (1) this golfer was WAY off the fareway and was probably pissed with his totally poor performance. (2) Plus, he didn't have a large following, so he was hard to spot out of the golf viewing pedestrians. (3) And a suggestion for the officials, the "quiet" signs should be much larger and brighter for players who wander off the green.

Needless to say, I was paranoid of the 'quiet' signs for the rest of the Western Open. And the running joke amongst my customers was the term "DO YOU MIND???" for everything!!

I hope this joke gets old fast.

Laters