Moments Of Pride

A simple and profound thing happened to me at the grocery store yesterday afternoon. The gentleman bagging my groceries looked at me, smiled and said, "I'm glad you still represent the A's with pride!"

He was referring to my hooded A's sweatshirt that I was wearing. He was also referring, of course, to the season's last two months and how they tested each fan's sense of pride and desire to brag about their fandom.

And let's face it. Rarely does a mother, in the supermarket, brag to another mom that her precious Susie just scored a 2/10 on her last Spanish quiz. "Well that's nothing! Did you know that my Dahlia just went 16-30 to blow the division and an 11.5 game lead in the first wild card?"

No, it generally goes more like this:

Anyway, I didn't really feel like telling this fellow A's fan that I chose the sweatshirt largely because it had a hood and the forecast called for rain, plus it looked downright fetching with my pants. I do wear my A's gear with pride because they are my team and they always will be.

We had a quick discussion about "the trades" and as you know everyone and his sister has an opinion on why Oakland toppled so far so fast, what should have been, what could have been, and what may lie in store. All water under the bridge at this point, except for the what-may-lie-in-store part.

It's just nice to go into a store, decked out in Oakland A's pride, and find that your fellow fans are just as wistful about the past and just as prideful about their team. Because it's their team. Just like it's your daughter, even if she still thinks that "agua" means "alligator". She really ought to consider less Facebook time and more studying.