TRAOTD #3:

Here are the minutes of Friday’s sessions in the EFL Mammal Summit between the Kangaroos and Wolverines:

Pre-Negotiation Phase:  Ryan made me walk the length of the mall to a museum still under construction (African American History Museum), and then all the way back up the mall (Native American History Museum), then a long tour of a mostly very depressing museum, then a good but over-priced supper.  On the way back he made me get off a stop early so he could “shop” but not buy anything.

Clearly the Captain Kangaroo was trying to wear down the old, physically and psychologically.  But I was onto him.  I bragged how all that walking had helped me accumulate 13,000 steps on the day.

Preliminary Negotiations/Board Game phase:  Ryan brought out two games I’ve never played, hoping to show how he can dominate the old man.  I won one of them, neutralizing his gambit.

Negotiation Phase:

Me:  Let me be in first.

Ryan: No.

Me:  But you have built a team that could compete every year for years, if you don’t go all in for this year.

Ryan:  (Long discourse on how sports are about winning, including being willing to sacrifice future chances to win to seize present opportunities to win.)

Me: (A few brief but cogent remarks, summarized as “I beg to differ.”)

This last part ended after midnight.

I know this doesn’t look good to the layman.  Ryan’s outright “no” seems so firm, followed by a passionate philosophy of  “win when you get the chance.”  But I can tell all this is for show. My successful parry of all of his preliminary maneuvers has clearly softened him up.