It all started with a game of bocce ball....

When I lived in France I played a fair bit of a game called Petanque, our Boules.  It’s a lazy mans game that’s usually played on a lackadaisical afternoon in the heat.  So far as I know it’s a Mediterranean game that’s been played one way or another since the days of the Roman Empire.  In Canada we play an Italian variant of it called Bocce Ball.  The great thing about this game is that it requires no real effort, and has no real consequences.  You’re basically trying to throw a big ball close to a little ball.  Conversation is generally light and friendly, no one takes it seriously.  At least that’s what I thought until the summer of 2008.

We were attending a company picnic one Saturday night in August.  I don’t remember specifically how it happened, but before dinner April and I wound up playing Bocce Ball against the company president, and his niece.  We had been playing for a half hour or so, generally enjoying ourselves.  April and I may have enjoyed it a little more because we were winning by a fair margin.  Throughout the game, there had been a bit of good humored ribbing; this ended when the president issued a threat – “If you guys win, I’m sending you to Saudi”.  We weren’t sure how seriously to take the threat, but better safe than sorry.  Really it’s a question of exposure.  The likelihood of follow-through was low, but the potential cost was catastrophic.  We lost.

I had completely forgotten about the incident when on the following Monday the President walked into my office, closed the door, shuttered the blinds, and sat down.  The effect was sinister.  I can still hear the words.  

“So, did you guys talk about it over the weekend?”

“Talk about what?”

“Transferring to the Middle East.”

And that’s what put us on this rollercoaster called ‘taking an overseas assignment’.  We’ve spent the last couple of years living with the menace of moving to the far side of the world, now we’re two weeks away from flying to Dubai with a one way ticket.  So, the next time you go to play Bocce Ball or any of its variants, think long and hard about the grave consequences of playing a lazy man’s game.