..exceptions
January 8, 2010 (Friday)
Yesterday’s blog was about people who are trying to stay warm during this extended freeze period, because survival needs are priority needs. How, then, do we explain the guy at the football game who is shirtless in sub-freezing weather?
Some of the reason has to do with pure fanaticism, considered normal when your team is up for the championship. One such fan declared in an interview, “The fans are the 11th man on the field!” Really? I thought there were already 11 men on the field. He meant, “12th man,” of course, but maybe he had already consumed a little you-know-what and was a little fuzzy about the facts.
Not that everyone out there without shirts, with painted faces and slogans written on their chests and backs, arms and hands, is drinking or is doped up, but a few are, and more so as the game goes on. It’s a well-known fact that drinking alcohol makes you feel warmer, but is actually dilating blood vessels, resulting in loss of body heat. It would be interesting to know what happened to those guys after the game. Did they get sick, or were they healthier than ever? I guess we’ll never know. I suppose it’s none of our business, anyway, unless the bare chests belong to our kids.
As the professional football playoffs get under way, expect to see a few games played in very cold weather, with the camera catching someone without a shirt, having more fun than everyone else. The hierarchy of needs, described in yesterday’s blog, is being ignored by the fans without shirts. When this happens, the person is either high on booze or drugs, mentally ill, or so excited that he has abandoned all reason.
Strange how you can pity, despise, admire and envy someone all at the same time.