Pro wrestling (the entertaining kind, not the real kind) is coming to Santomas, Estacado, at some point soon. While I’m living in the big city (or what passes for it) going to a live pro wrestling demonstration is something I’d definitely like to do.

Suffice it to say, this sort of thing is not high on Clancy’s list of things that she would like to do. The thing is that I have an old college friend that lives in a nearby town who was one of the two people that introduced me to what was then WWF and WCW wrestling. I haven’t been following wrestling in years and I wouldn’t be surprised if it fell off his radar, too. That being said, he is surely more on top of things than I am and it would be great to go with someone more knowledgeable.

The problem is that I suspect that said friend is not in a comfortable position financially and I would be surprised if he’s got the money for that sort of thing, though if he’s still a big fan I’m sure he could make the money for it (he did back in college when he was particularly hard up). I wouldn’t want to place a financial burden on him and if he can’t afford it, I might be willing to front the cost of his ticket just for his company.

These things are always awkward, though. He’s a proud guy and if he can afford it he might take offense at my offering to cover for it and if I didn’t make the offer outright he’d probably find some reason not to be able to go (it’s on a weeknight, which could be reason enough). So how does one approach this situation? Typically when I’ve been in this situation, the hard-up friend hasn’t had a problem sharing in my generosity… but this is a different case.

To make matters potentially even more difficult, he’s had friendships end for the flimsiest of reasons loosely related to his pride and this sort of thing could blow up in my face entirely. He’s loosened up a great deal since he’s gotten married, but how much?

There ought to be a way I can ask the question without asking it, but that also has the tendency to make people mad. I in particular hate it when people do that, but mostly because I don’t get offended by questions easily. People who get offended easily by questions also get offended by people dancing around questions. That’s kind of annoying.

Then again, maybe he’s mellowed out enough since getting married that I’m working myself all up for nothing. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve walked on eggshells around a deaf person.