Chapter 2 Summarizer: Kaylee Cardinal

Norah Vincent takes her first step and finds the distinction between Ned the character in her head and Ned the real guy when she joins a bowling league. In order to make friends with guys she decides that bowling is the perfect sport for this. However, she knows it won’t be that easy considering she’s only bowled five times in her life. As Vincent walks into the bowling alley in the character of Ned, she feels as if all eyes in the building are staring at her, and she questions if she can do this or not. As the league manager saw Ned walk in, there was no turning back. Once Vincent got registered, picked up a bowling ball, and laced her shoes, she was then introduced to her teammates: Jim, Allen, and Bob. Jim was the team captain, and very nice. Vincent says that she felt very welcomed by him and included in everything right off the bat. Allen was also like Jim. Vincent says that “he seemed to mark me as a buddy from the start, no questions asked.” Lastly, was Bob. Bob wasn’t the friendly type and didn’t go out of the way to introduce himself or shake hands for that matter. As days went on, Vincent began to loosen up and get more comfortable with these guys. She noticed the different types of conversations that men would have and those that women would have. Vincent said she had a hard time getting used to the tone of voice that they used when they said hello. Most women would think that if the person wasn’t really excited or happy when they said hello that they would be mad about something. However, guys are different. Vincent states that “Everything was out and aboveboard, never more, never less than what was on anyone’s mind. If they were pissed at you, you’d know it.” Even though Ned was a terrible bowler, Vincent noticed that no matter what his scores were, Jim, Allen, and Bob were encouraging all the time. She noticed that this was common in men and not in women. Men always want to help when it comes to sports and they will always teach each other how to improve their game. No female athletes are very competitive and want each other to fail. Eventually, Ned’s bowling game began to get consistently better.
After months of playing the character of Ned, Vincent decided to reveal herself as a woman. Nervous about how the guys would react, she tested the waters with Jim, the guy she had become closest with. Vincent took Jim out for a drink with her partner, Lisa, and told him she had something to say that was going to "blow his mind." At first he couldn’t believe it, but later on he was the one who told the rest of his teammates about Vincent being a woman. Vincent realized that out of everyone, she was the one who was being the most judgmental. The guys on her bowling team accepted Ned for who he was, and the whole time she was the one who was judging them.