Mr. Newman
Lovett students are endlessly creative. During the second half of a chapel period, a group of seniors was playing ping pong in the Williams Plaza. It was warm. Leaves were falling. And only one of them, Carson Tinkler, was using a paddle. The others, who struggled to defeat Carson in very short matches, used their palm or…Nicholas Holland’s wallet.
I had to know more, so I first approached Patrick Smyth.
Mr. Newman: So, tell me a little bit about playing ping pong with a wallet.
Patrick S. I mean, well, right now we only have one paddle, so I am just trying to use anything around me. So I asked my friend for his wallet, and it doesn’t actually work very well compared to the paddle. I can definitely say it’s a lot smaller.
Mr. Newman: Okay, so surface area is a significant problem?
Patrick S.: Yes. And also the wallet, the material it’s made out of isn’t as hard as the paddle, so it doesn’t actually bounce as good against the ball.
Mr. Newman: Do you happen to know what kind of wallet it is?
Patrick S.: It’s a Louis Vuitton wallet.
Mr. Newman: Do you know why there’s only one paddle?
Patrick S: I actually had no clue. Apparently, there were two about a few days ago, but apparently one disappeared. I imagine someone definitely took it.
Carson Tinkler then chimed in.
Carson T: There’s bite marks in the paddle.
Mr. Newman: Do you feel like the bite marks are holding you back? Do they make it a little bit more even?
Carson T: I think since the paddle has no rubber on it, it’s kind of leveling out the playing field.
I turned back to Patrick.
Mr. Newman: Have you been playing ping pong for all four years?
Patrick S: I started playing it around 10th grade year, and then 11th year I played it a lot as well, but I stopped playing it second semester and then senior year I’m picking it back up again.
Jackson Van Os: Maybe actually tell him about ping pong club.
Patrick S: Oh yeah. And then me and my friend Jackson, and Carson and Nick, we all started a Ping Pong Club because we really felt passionate about it and we got a few people out here and I think it was a great club, but we should try and restart.
Mr. Newman: If you had to choose between wallet or hand, which way do you go?
Patrick S: Oh, definitely wallet. I mean the hand is just so unpredictable because you hit your palm, it’s not going to go over, but you hit your fingers, the bones are harder, so it probably will make a go over, but It’s just too unpredictable.
Mr. Newman: Have you guys considered maybe seeing if you could get another paddle?
Patrick S.: Yeah, we did actually order them, and Mr. Boswell said they’ll be in soon, but they’re not in currently right now, so unfortunately we still have one.
Mr. Newman: Do you play ping pong outside of the school?
Patrick S: Yeah, I do have a ping pong table at my house. In the basement.
Mr. Newman: Okay. Classic ping pong table in the basement?
Patrick S: Yeah.
I walked over to Nicholas Holland, owner of the French wallet paddle
Mr. Newman: Can you tell me what is inside the wallet?
Nicholas H: ID and cards. A little bit of cash.
Mr. Newman: Got your license in there. Is that your health insurance?
Nicholas H: Yeah. And then Australian currency.
Mr. Newman: Okay. Plus $2 bill in there?
Nicholas H: Yeah, a bunch of $2 bills.
Mr. Newman: How do you feel about your wallet being used for ping pong purposes?
Nicholas H: I don’t know. I feel like it makes sense. Just a good wallet. I can get a little spin on this.
Mr. Newman: One more question. Do you think this reflects the Lovett spirit? What you’re doing right now?
Nicholas H: I feel like not the Lovett spirit, but the spirit that evolves out of Lovett experiences. We don’t have the materials needed for ping pong, so we make ’em ourselves.
Mr. Newman: Necessity is the mother of…
Nicholas H: Of invention. Yeah. Invention.
A Note From Mr. Boswell: “Ping pong paddles have arrived and are available in the US Office. Please return them when you’re finished, so we can keep them in good working order. Or continue challenging yourself by playing with homemade materials!”
