Come on in, I have some fruit, and some tortilla chips with salsa. The place is mostly picked up and we're getting back into the swing of things.
Listening to the radio this afternoon, and on Blue Sky they had some 'Riders on and were doing listener call-ins with their favorite 'Rider memories, and of course, this sparked my own, and I thought about phoning in, and then remembered, I needed to go throw up (Ugh, ate something bad today) and so never did call. Thus, it shall be shared with you all.
I took Little Bear to her first live 'Rider game. She would have been around 5 or 6, and had a couple years of soccer, with yours truly as coach, and she knew about good sportsmanship, and loved the 'Riders cuz she loved her dad. For those of you worried, she's becoming a 'Rider fan again on her own terms now, but back then, it was all about her daddy.
So there we are, up in the stands, and right next to us are these two delightful older chaps who have taken a liking to Little Bear and share their peanuts with her, and she decides to tell them both about all the great things about coming to a football game, and how it was her first, and mostly it boiled down to how great it was to be there with her dad and of course have peanuts. She charmed the hell out of those two gentlemen.
The game starts, and it was a good back and forth game, and me, I cheer for any good play, just way louder when it's the 'Riders who make the play, and so does Little Bear, taking her cues from me. Unfortunately we had one of those fans who thinks getting really drunk and belligerent at a football game is the thing to do right behind us. And he's swearing and cursing out the 'Riders and opponent alike, getting louder and louder. At half time, he leaves to get more beer, and I look over at the two older chaps and they go 'That guy, every game, like that. Gettin' sick of it.' They nod and hum and haw at each other. Obviously they're not happy about my Little Bear getting an earful of drunken swearing and attitude, and frankly, neither am I. When he comes back, I'm about to turn around and say something to the guy, when Little Bear beat me to it. She turns and looks at this guy and says 'Y'know, if you don't have anything good to say, you shouldn't say anything at all,' in her most princess sounding voice, filled with contempt and wisdom in equal measure.
There was some laughter and the drunk starts to stand up, thunderclouds in his eyes as he stares at my Little Bear, who is still calmly looking at the man like he is beneath her and should take a lesson from her. I get up and I'm ready to tool this guy, even if it means getting tossed out at half time, as being completely worth my time. And that's when the two old gents with the peanuts also stand up and the one pokes the drunk and says 'Been a long time coming young man, you just get too loud and annoying at these games, so y'best shuttup before a whole group of us makes it so you hafta shuttup.'
Drunk and Belligerent stares around at a good half dozen folks who all have stood up and are more than willing to back up Little Bear's proclamation of civility, and he goes some what blurry and wavers down to his seat and does what all stupid drunks do, makes an excuse about how he was just having fun and everyone else is getting too serious.
The rest of the game was quite fun, with Little Bear becoming the unofficial spokesperson for that section and being treated to a lot of drinks, peanuts, and popcorn. Amazing how the simple view of a child about what is right and wrong can spur us stupid and lazy adults to do what we should have done a long time ago.
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