255. Noodle Wars

A listener shares a story about a time she and her friends made up a game with pool noodles. The okay thing is being able to laugh with the people you love over silly activities. 

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

I’m Nora McInerny, and It’s Going To Be Okay. 

Today’s okay thing comes from Amanda Metcalf, who sent us this email: 

Yesterday, my friend Suzie sent me a mashup video of a new “trend”: paddleboard jousting. In the cuts that brought me the most joy, the aggressor would be the one to fall. A jouster would land a hit, get thrown off balance themselves, and tumble backward into the water. Or maybe that person would stab and miss and belly-flop forward.

My love of falling fails aside, these people all lost while taking charge, But they won because, well, it’s just funny — for them, for their opponents, for whoever is watching. While I’m sure someone could practice and master such a sport, the point is just to try — and then everyone gets a laugh.

I know firsthand how hard it is even to get one’s balance on a paddleboard. I’ve never stood on one, but 10 years ago, I was among those in the water holding the paddleboard steady as two friends tried to get their balance on the same paddleboard in preparation for a game that would, in retellings, become known as Noodle Wars.

I don’t know how it started, but whenever a sampling of this particular crowd gathers, a game will form using whatever is at hand. Most likely, a tournament bracket will materialize in short order. These friends don’t stop at “Wouldn’t it be fun?” or “Wouldn’t it be funny?” They follow through. Thus have been born Beer Ball, Gay Glowstick Games, Tierney Ball, the Mildly Challenging Mudder, Marathon Flip Cup and more. A friend from a different cohort once said to me: “I think you have the most fun of anyone I know.”

At the birth of Noodle Wars were at least 10 friends, a bay off Sag Harbor, a paddleboard and two of those bendy, foam, floating tubes every swimming pool owner has. After a few pairs of friends tried to knock each other off the paddleboard using swim noodles, Thea and Suzie took to the board.

To get ready for the official start of battle, the opponents have to work together to balance, get the noodles in hand and stand up. Thea found her center of gravity first and held the board steady as Suzie found her balance and stood up. Then Thea, still squatting down, reached for the noodles floating nearby. She got one in hand and was reaching for the other just as Suzie inadvertently tipped the board a bit. In an attempt to maintain balance, Thea stretched out the hand holding the noodle. Suzie saw her chance, grabbed that noodle out of Thea’s hand and took a swing before Thea could even stand up fully. Thea recovered and got a few swings of her own in, but really, it was Suzie’s own momentum — and her avarice — that carried her into the water.

When we relive that story, it’s not about Thea’s victory but about how hard we laughed when Suzie pulled a dirty move and it caused her to lose. 

In the decade or so between the advent of Noodle Wars and the day, Suzie sent me that video of paddleboard jousting, we’ve all seen each other through both hilarious times and hard ones. There have been fights and illnesses, deaths of parents and pets, breakups, losses of jobs, losses of elections and plenty more that doesn’t make us laugh.

But I know it’s going to be OK when I see a video of other people similarly spending the time and effort to actually put together and play a game as ridiculous as paddleboard jousting, to stand up on  thatboard knowing that the best thing that could happen is that you get knocked off of it. It means there are more people out there in the world who see the real value in absurdity and laughing and just being together. It means there are more people out there who are like my friends. No way it’s not going to be OK.