Football Fraternity

I've been trying to see if I could keep all or most of my October posts Halloweeny or Fallish in some way.  It's been more difficult than I thought, and though this post is a stretch, I think it counts. 

Indy's infatuation with fall has all to do with the cool, crisp weather, and the promise of a haunted Halloween.  It's also football season!  Indy is a huge New York Giants fan- such a big fan, that he's the guy who says stuff like, "What we need to do is...." or "We can't keep letting them get by us like that!"  For Indy, the fact that he isn't being paid a gajillion dollars to play in the Natinoal Football League means nothing- he is not merely a "fan," he is part of the team.

If any of you are football fans out there, you might be aware that the Giants are currently 0 and 6.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Out of six games, they've won zero.

When they lost the first game of the season, Indy was pretty bummed.

When they lost the second game of the season, Indy was pretty angry.

When they lost the third game of the season, Indy declaired that we would no longer be watching the games.

Since then he's let the NFL app on his phone and disappointing texts from friends update him on the three additional losses.  Every Sunday he mopes around the house like there's a big, gray raincloud looming over his every step.

However, this weekend, I was able to witness the brotherly love shared by complete strangers who root for the same, losing team.

It started with a trip to Dunkin' Donuts.  Indy wanted to get a pumpkin-spiced something and once inside, we were face-to-face with one of these bad boys:

 via.

Eli Manning. The New York Giants' Quarterback. Shoving a cardboard sandwich in our faces.

Indy proceeded to the counter and not only ordered his pumpkin-spiced whatever, but also got six donuts! (Very unlike him!)  I jokingly pointed to the blue and white striped donuts labeled "Go Giants!" and asked, "Want one of those?"  He very loudly proclaimed, "No. I do not want a Giants donut."  At that point the DD employee gave Indy the saddest look and just shook his head from side to side.  He then said, "I'm giving you an extra."  We left with our 13 donuts, and Indy was a little happier.

The next day we found ourselves in Home Depot. Indy's parents had gifted us their old grill when we moved in May, but for some reason the gas tank attachment wouldn't come off the tank we had, and even with the help of three HD employees, we couldn't get it off:

I asked, "Why were so many guys helping you?" He said, "They saw my hat and said they wanted to help out a Giants fan."

On our way home from HD, we stopped to get gas.  The attendant was a super nice guy who, after taking our credit card, spend the next five minutes discussing with Indy the pitfalls of the team, what "we" needed to start doing and stop doing.  He even made some comment about how he wouldn't want to be at Manning's house for Thanksgiving after a season like this.  Indy and the attendant laughed a while over their shared misery and we were on our way.

I was just amazed to see how open these complete strangers were when they realized someone else was sharing in their pain.  They were kinder to each other than usual, because the team they both liked is sucking, hard.  I don't think there's anything women react to in that way.

Anyway, we got home that night and I had an e-mail from my Big Little Brother in my inbox.  It read, "This is what Indy does when he goes to watch football with his friends..."

We both got a pretty big laugh out of it!  And I can guarantee you this: there will definitely be an Indy Dance Party whenever they do end up winning a game!