Four of us joined in the bet. The goal: get below 200 or pay 200 to the Wyakin Warriors to support wounded veterans. To sweeten the pot, those who didn’t make it were to write “LOSER” on their abdomens and send the pictures to me so that a few thousand people could see them.
Three made it.
One was at 193.5.
One was at 199.4.
I was at 196.
The other (who for this article will be known as Barney) did not. So in compliance with the rules of the bet, I asked him to send me a photo.
This is what I got.
I might have been fooled, but I’m not stupid. Barney lives in a northern climate and since winter has just ended, his skin should not be as tan as shown in the picture. So I asked for another shot – this time in natural light – and this is what he sent:
Not even close. The hair is the wrong color. His hair is short and much darker.
So I asked for another, and he sent me this.
Granted, it has been quite a while since I saw Barney in a shower, but as I recall his chest hair was not that thick.
So I asked for another.
Uncanny resemblance to a young Theodore Roosevelt. I asked for another.
And another.
And another.
By then, I was coming up on deadline and I realized there was not going to be enough time to get an actual picture of a middle aged man’s bare torso that could be posted for the whole world to see.
Then again, out of the whole population of the world (about seven billion), I doubt I will get any complaints.
And since the money goes to a good cause (plus one buddy of mine threw in ten bucks for every pound I lost), it’s a win-win, really. Good cause; Barney’s dignity saved.
No loser.
