The Jumbo Cup

 

No man will ever truly understand what it’s like for a woman in the deepest transition phase of labor, but if you’ve ever gotten your balls whacked by an 80 M.P.H. soccer ball, you understand pain.  Fortunately, its something a man can do something about.  He can go out and get an athletic cup.  I know this, I’ve been there, standing in the path of that 80 M.P.H. soccer path.  After a few excruciating incidents, I decided to buy an athletic cup.  I’ve never used one before.  The uncertainties were staggering.

 

I had been putting it off.  I have this thing about buying intimate items of clothing.  Not only that, but there’s the matter of size.  What size to get?  I am, shall we say, not particularly gifted in the athletic cup department.  How was I going to go to a sporting goods store, find a good fit in an athletic cup, and not advertise my deficiencies?  Let me tell you, this is a serious matter for men.  You don’t just walk in and say, hey, what have you got in the petites?  It just isn’t done.

 

But, after the last incident, a particularly brutal blow launched at close quarters, I decided it was time.  I gathered up my courage and went to the nearest sports store.  Oh, my bad luck!  There was a woman at the register, and a woman clerk roaming the store.  The only thing worse would have been some young muscle bound stud.  I imagined the looks of scorn!  The pitying stares.  I almost walked out.  But my tension flared up the pain in my still sore groin area.  That decided it. I got myself together and got down to business.

 

I found the rack with the athletic supporters and cups.  They had small, medium, and large sizes, each package containing a jock strap and a cup.  Now I faced a dilemma. How could I walk red-faced up to the woman at the cash register with my size “small” athletic cup and ignore the snickers.  I saw the clerk coming over.  Panic!  I quickly moved over to the sock rack.  I could see it now – “May I help you find something?”.  “Yes, I’m looking for a large sock for my particularly large feet.  See?  You want me to take my shoe off?”. Fortunately, she was stopped by a customer looking for sweatpants that wouldn’t make her look fat.  I figured I had some time, maybe 10 minutes.

 

Okay, there was only one thing to do.  Grab an extra large, and live with it.  I could tape it on or something.  It wouldn’t be so bad.  The larger, the more protection.  Right?  No matter that it would slip down during a game, and be protecting my asshole rather than the all-important frontal region.  I could just turn around a lot.  I’d be protected!

 

All right, enough of this.  Be a man.  Walk proud!  After all, size doesn’t matter, does it?  Just grab that thing, and ignore the snickers.  Just ignore the snickers!  I don’t need to impress these people.  After all, they work in a sporting goods store.

 

It was then that it hit me.  The size is for the jock strap.  The jock straps are small, medium, and large.  I looked more closely.  Sure enough, the athletic cup was the same size for all three jock strap sizes.  My problem was solved.  I confidently grabbed the large size.  Wait!  Do they have an extra large?  I need it, I’m a big man.  Nope, I’ll just have to settle for a large size, and take the pressure.  I can do this!

 

I grabbed my large size cup and supporter and strutted over to the cashier.  I bet she was impressed.  I felt like asking her if they had extra large, because I hate to be cramped, you know?  I felt like browsing through the store, holding my large size cup and supporter conspicuously for all to see.  Maybe passing by the clerk a couple of times, letting her sense my manly aura.  But, I settled for just basking in the warm glow of testosterone flowing through the old tubes.

 

So, you see, if you ever have to buy an athletic cup, you needn’t experience the heartbreak of exposure of your deepest secrets.  The only downside to the whole experience is learning how to use the damn thing.  It doesn’t come with instructions.  Does the fat side go up and the skinny side down?  That doesn’t feel right.  But the other way makes less sense.  Oh well, that’s not important.  What’s important is that size does matter.  Jockstrap size, that is.  And I’ve got that covered.