true colors

On Sunday, we dropped by the mall for a few minutes. The early football games were over so there were several football fans there, celebrating a rare win. We saw lots of people wearing football jerseys, hats and various paraphernalia, all elated because their team is # 1, at least until next week. I saw one couple who were maybe a little tipsy from too much booze. He was wearing a jersey, she had on an old faded team t-shirt and a bunch of Mardi Gras -type beads. They walked by an Orthodox Jewish family who was dressed in traditional clothing. They were wearing black and the gentleman was wearing his kippa or yarmulke, the traditional skull cap. Keep in mind, this type of clothing is required by the Jewish religion to show respect and honor for God. It is part of their worship. This ritual is centuries old and has substantially deep cultural and religious roots. The first couple, clad in the football clothes looked at, pointed at and laughed at the Jewish family. They didn’t even try to hide their amusement.

What an obvious display of a culture gone ridiculous. The first couple was wearing ugly clothes, with colors that were based on a bad football team. They had the nerve to laugh at someone else who was not nearly as cool as they were, and were clearly very strange. They were superior, in part, because their team won today. The Jews were inferior because, well, their team didn’t even play today.

Jewish people have been around since the beginning of recorded history. This football team for about one generation. The Jews aren’t going anywhere. The football team could be gone as soon as a better offer from another city shows up. The Jews have loved God from the beginning. Football fans are as fickle as they come.

True colors, indeed.