This one isn't really about comments, but just how tough it is to be a girl in the world of pool. Everywhere I go, I am confronted with unwanted, unsolicited assistance from all kinds of people. Ironically, these offers rarely come from people who are qualified to give such advice. They usually come from people who *think* they are qualified. Driven by their egos, they cannot resist critiquing one's game and making suggestions.
I played in a tournament today. My match was against an older gentleman who didn't quite know his 9-ball rules. Halfway through our match, an even older gentleman came into the poolhall. He seemed to be a regular shooter there, and my opponent knew him. The older man sat by our table to watch our match. I made a few mistakes but I managed to win the match. A few hours later, while I was warming up before a match, the older guy came up to me and said to me, "You made one mistake that cost you that game." By this point, I'm already screaming inside my head. He recreates the situation for me, where the object ball is sitting in the pocket. I knew what he was going to tell me. He was going to say that I should shoot it in going rail first. He says, "You should never shoot this straight in." Well, I don't think I did that, and that's not really true, but fine. I really wasn't in the mood to listen. I tried to be nice, but I was probably kind of short with him. Yeah, rail first right? OK, yes. My opponent showed up so I told him we have to play. The older guy goes, "Try it." and makes me practice the shot. AHHHHHHHHH!!!!
This is definitely one of my pet peeves. I hate it when people come up to me and give me these kinds of advice and talk to me like I've never played before. I'm no champion but I've spent enough time and effort to deserve some respect. Maybe this guy in particular loves to do that, because I noticed that other guys were making comments about him. One guy walked by me and said, "He used to teach Jeanette Lee." .............
I was practicing with the help of my friend/coach and someone immediately came up to comment on the drill. Another guy came up and suggested that I work on another drill. I told him thank you but I'll work on this one for now and maybe he can show it to me some other day, but he kept talking about it. Finally, my friend/coach went over to talk to him about it so I had some time to myself. What does it take for them to leave me alone!!?? Maybe if I go out with the Hulk, they *might* leave us alone.
Another one of my pet peeves is guys constantly looking at me. I'm not bragging about my beauty or anything but some guys just don't stop staring. I understand that women are still kind of rare in pool, but this creepy stuff needs to stop. There was this one guy who kept looking at me. STOP IT ALREADY! And when you start to notice these things, you can't stop looking back at them either because it's just so darn creepy. I once had to confront a guy who did this to me because he kept smiling at me and trying to get my attention. He finally even followed me outside (he didn't follow me to my car). The guy apologized to me later on, but he went on to say, "I just couldn't stop looking at you." Sounds romantic? Absolutely not. I guess I wouldn't feel so bad if all this attention was coming from the right source. 99% of the time, it's creepy.
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