Refereeing has it's rewards

[Mark Padgett]

Last night, I went to a local restaurant to pick up a pizza I ordered on the phone. There was a HS kid working the counter. He looked at me and said, "Hey - ain't you that basketball referee guy?" I replied, "Yes, and if you say "ain't" again, I'm giving you a technical." He laughed and told me he'd go in the back and get my pizza.

When he came out to ring it up, he told me he'd taken $5 off the price. I thanked him and asked him why. He said that when he was in 8th grade, I was reffing one of his games and there was a kid on the other team he "hated since first grade" (his exact words). He said I tossed that kid out of the game and it was the best thing that could have happened and that he still remembered it. That's why he gave me the discount.

I told him I remembered that game (of course, I didn't) and that I tossed that same kid at least two other times that season so he should take another $10 off the price.

It didn't work.