it's a great experience to talk to good people who are supporters of the team, and especially to someone who can tell his son/daughter "Guess who I ran in to at the store today!" and have that son/daughter be genuinely excited about it.
The only bummer was .. I had a six-pack of, um, let's call them Judd Lytes, in my grocery cart. Now, I know this is not a crime. I am well over 21 years old, and am entitled to a drink of leisure every once in a while. But man, what bad timing. I haven't bought a pack of Judd Lytes in over 5 months, and we still have one left in the fridge.
Shoot, I think Hale and I had one each the night we moved in to our apartment to celebrate, and the rest were consumed by friends who wanted something other than our customary offering of Gatorade or water. It's just not a part of who I am or what I do. That being said, it just seemed like a bit much to explain all of this to this man standing in front of the egg section at the grocery store. I can imagine him walking away from the experience with the idea that I need some serious help.
So what's the point? (I know you often ask this when reading my column.) Well, I know that it is virtually impossible for every impression you give to be a favorable one, no matter how much integrity and thoughtfulness and all things good and positive you have in your life. This gentleman today may not have thought twice about what was in my cart, but he may have, also.
Someone who saw their first-ever Quakes game this past Saturday may have gotten the impression that we are not a great team, and don't have continuity in our attack. It's impossible to make them see that we do, in fact, have one of the most disciplined and entertaining teams in the league and we play with flow and creativity a good majority of the time. That's the thing about first impressions -- there is only one shot at getting it right. All you can do is try to minimize the times you get caught with your pants down. Or with a sixer in the cart. Whatever.
Busted,
Wade
